


The Lost Avenger

by The_StonedSoldier



Category: Captain America (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Angst, Awesome Bucky Barnes, Canon-Typical Violence, Fluff, Hydra (Marvel), Loki being a dick, M/M, Manipulation, Sarcasm, Sassy Idiots, Tangled (2010) References, The Tesseract (Marvel), fairytale AU, tangled
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-06-12
Updated: 2014-06-30
Packaged: 2018-02-04 09:28:28
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 8
Words: 23,789
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1774171
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/The_StonedSoldier/pseuds/The_StonedSoldier
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>*Tangled AU*<br/>Bucky's first official mission with Hydra had been going well... if by well you mean he had screwed it up completely and was well on his way to getting half the city destroyed. He's just about managed to get the Tesseract away from the Avengers, when he finds himself under the interrogation of a mysterious blonde man who only has one request: to be taken out into the city so he can see the lights in the sky for his birthday.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Stealing the Tesseract

**Author's Note:**

  * Translation into Tiếng Việt available: [The Lost Avenger (Translation) - Kẻ Báo Thù mất tích](https://archiveofourown.org/works/2717003) by [mabeo2610](https://archiveofourown.org/users/mabeo2610/pseuds/mabeo2610)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Bucky is officially the worst Hydra agent in history, who has a terribly habit of talking to himself. Steve is a confused, magical haired boy, who can't remember ever being outside of the building he's kept in. What could possibly go wrong?

When he was a kid people had always told him that one day his big mouth would be the death of him. His mother would say it whenever he came through the door with a bloody nose and a black eye after calling out the kid he saw grabbing at a girl in the street. His teachers would say it every time he wound up sitting in detention for making a snide remark about a fact they'd gotten wrong. "James, one day that big mouth of yours is going to get you into serious trouble." They would all say. "Maybe after that you'll finally learn to hold your tongue." If only he hadn't been such a stubborn kid and had actually listened to them, he probably wouldn't be running for his life with all the Earth's mightiest heroes on his tail.  
The mission had seemed simple enough. Sneak into the secret base of the Avengers, swipe their weird blue glow cube, get out. What could go wrong? Unfortunately, as he'd been making his way out, that big mouth of his decided to start having some fun. So when he saw the Black Widow and Hawkeye sparring in a nearby room, and Hawkeye being thrown to the ground with incredible force as he walked past, he'd just had to say "Ten points to redhead."Which, obviously, made them both look over immediately, spot him holding a case with a strange blue glow emitting from it, and sound the alarm.

"BARNES!" A voice hissed in his ear and he cursed.

"I have this completely under control, sir."

"Under control!? I'm staring at a flat screen TV right now and you know what I see? The entire Avenger's fleet chasing your reckless ass across the city!"

"That's a minor complication, I'll shake 'em off."

"I did not haul your barely breathing body out of Afghanistan for you to compromise the security of my entire organisation, Barnes. You have until tonight to get that cube here, unseen."

Fuck. He could hear heavy stomping approaching and chanced a look over his shoulder. A giant green rage monster was smashing it's way along the streets with it's eyes locked firmly on him, snarling and roaring fiercely. How the hell did he get himself into these situations? He turned back around and spotted a narrow alleyway a few buildings down that the hulk wouldn't be able to fit into and headed for it, cursing his legs for not being able to run faster. He made it into the alleyway and took a few minutes to catch his breath.  
"Christ, Bucky, you need to get back in the gym." He muttered to himself as he stood there panting and listening for any sign that the rest of the Avengers had caught up to him yet.  
It was the first mission he'd been sent out to do on his own, although he had a feeling Pierce was probably regretting that right now, but he would be damned if he was gonna screw it up. He glanced around and decided he would be able to make a better escape over the rooftops, seeing as the majority of his pursuers lacked the power of flight. There were ladders leading up to the roof of the building he was leaning against, to he pulled himself up, which was easier said than done when you had to carry a solid metal suitcase up with you.  
He crawled out onto the top of the building, staying flat on his stomach and peering over the edge to see if there was any sign of the Avengers anywhere. There was a trail of destruction along the street where the hulk had gone, but apart from that he couldn't see any evidence that the others were nearby. Standing up, he looked around and attempted to get his bearings. It was hard enough to get to the Hydra base when you knew where you were, but he had been chased almost to the edge of the city, and was completely at a loss for which way he should go. Dammit, why couldn't they have equipped his prosthetic arm with some kind of GPS system?  
Eventually he decided he'd just move along the buildings that looked the easiest to jump on to, although even that proved a challenge with this damn case he was having to carry. He was about five buildings along and was about to leap onto a sixth when he heard a voice.

"I wouldn't do that." He spun around and saw Falcon landing behind him. Shit, he'd forgotten about this guy. "You gonna hand that over or do I have to take it from you?" He took a step forward and Bucky didn't move. He'd already run out of ammunition in both his guns from his tangle with iron man a few blocks back. Maybe if he'd been smart he would have brought more with him, damn his arrogance. He had two options here. He could hand the case back over and hope it won him some brownie points with the Avengers, but then he'd probably end up top of the list for people Hydra needed to kill. Or he could jump off the building and hope he didn't kill himself. Neither seemed like particularly tempting options, but Falcon was walking closer towards him and he knew he had to do something.  
Taking a deep breath he leapt off the edge of the building, grabbing onto the railing of a balcony and crashing in through the window beneath it.

"Oh man that was so awesome, I can't believe that worked." He said to nobody in particular, and started making his way through the, thankfully empty, room and heading down the stairs. There were about five flights of stairs to run down and he made a note to himself to take up step aerobics if he ever managed to make it back. The door he found led back out into another alleyway, which he followed for about five minutes before the sound of gunshots started resonating around and he looked up to see that Falcon had caught up to him and was flying overhead. There was no cover or exit from the alley so he had no choice but to keep running down it, using his metal arm to deflect the bullets raining down on him.  
He kept moving until he realised there wasn't any ground left, and that he was standing right at the edge of the docks. Fuck. Fuck, fuck, fuck. Fuck. He glanced back up and saw Falcon swooping down and stopping in front of him, hovering over the water, smirking at him.

"Give up yet?"

"I don't like you." Bucky knew his voice was barely audible behind the mask they made him wear, but the laughter from the other man suggested he could understand him clearly enough. He used that temporary distraction to his advantage and pulled the ammo-less gun from its holster and hurled it at one of Falcon's wings, catching him off guard and making him lose control. Before he could do anything else Bucky took off sprinting along the edge of the dock, hoping and praying for somewhere he could get out of view. Someone up there answered his prayer and within a few minutes he spotted an old train tunnel that looked like it hadn't been used in years. He darted inside and pressed himself up against the wall, listening out for any sign he'd been caught up with.  
He decided it would be safer to follow the tunnel out to the other side, so he started down it slowly, keeping himself pressed against the wall. He must have been following the tunnel for at least ten minutes when he found a rusty looking door. He had planned to just keep moving past it, but when he heard the faint sound of footsteps coming up the tunnel he quickly tried to get it open. The handle was stiff but after a good shove with his metal shoulder the door swung open and he stepped through it, closing it as softly as he could behind him.  
He was back outside again now, but the area looked completely secluded and there was no way anybody would ever find it without coming the way he just had. There were some planks scattered around on the floor so he grabbed one and wedged it beneath the handle of the door, hoping that would be enough to deter anyone else who tried to open it.  
There was a derelict looking building just across from where he was standing, which looked like a good place to for him to stop for a while and try to get back into contact with Pierce so he could figure out how the hell to get back to the Hydra base. He headed over to the building and tried the door. Locked, dammit. He hated picking locks, TV shows always made it look so easy, or maybe it was easy and he was just an idiot. If only he'd saved one measly bullet he could have just shot the damn thing, but instead he fished the lock pick they gave him out of his pocket and jammed it into the lock, fiddling around for what felt like forever until finally it clicked open.  
Quietly he stepped inside, holding the case up in front of him and grinning.

"Can't do a mission on my own huh, Pierce? Well get a load'a this badboy. You can suck my..." Bucky was cut off in his muttering by a blunt force suddenly hitting him on the head, and everything blacking out.

 

* * *

 

It had been a fairly uneventful morning for Steve. He'd cleaned the entire building from top to bottom twice, and that only passed about 2 hours. So he spent the rest of the morning sitting in the same corner of the same room he'd been in for as long as he could remember, sketching out the same lights that he saw on his birthday every year through the window, and that he would probably have to watch through the window again tomorrow.  
He felt the light, needle-like legs of Peg-E as it climbed up onto his shoulder, the faint green light of it's eye shining onto the page of his sketchbook. The tiny robot looked over at him and he sighed.

"You think I should ask him again?" Peg-E didn't say anything, obviously, but it did scratch one of it's legs against his shoulder which Steve took as a response. "I doubt he'll even show up today, Peg, he was only here a couple days ago. I'll be lucky if he even comes down for my birthday." The robot blinked it's green light at him and he sighed again, going back to his drawing, leaning his head lightly on the top of the robot's body.  
He hadn't been lying when he said he wasn't expecting a visit today, so he was shocked when he heard that familiar, honeyed voice saying his name as he stood washing the dishes.

"Steven." He spun around and saw the tall, raven haired man smiling warmly at him.

"Loki... what are you doing here?" Loki walked over to him, the sunlight glinting off the gold trimming of his outfit as he moved in and out of the shadows. Once he was about an inch away he reached up and cupped Steve's face in his hands, pressing his lips gently against the top of his head and smiling at him again.

"I missed you, pet. Why else would I be here?" He brushed his thumb over Steve's cheek and tutted. "You look exhausted, what on Earth have you been doing?"

"Just cleaning. I cleaned the whole house twice." Steve shrugged and forced a smile, making Loki laugh lightly.

"You work yourself too hard, pet, you should take a break." He took Steve gently by the shoulders and guided him over to a chair, forcing him down until he sat on it. "Honestly, you and your cleaning. It's obsessive, you know how I hate it."

"It's not an obsessive thing, I just have nothing else to do." Loki frowned at him and the grip he had on Steve's shoulders tightened slightly.

"I've brought you plenty of things to pass the time with, I don't see why you have to blame me for everything. I get you everything you ask for. I got you that sketchbook."

"I've run out of things to draw."

"Then make something up." Steve jumped slightly at the sudden sharpness in Loki's voice. The grip he had on his shoulders became painful for a brief moment before Loki let go of him, sighing. "You know you shouldn't provoke me like that."

"I know, I'm sorry." Steve said weakly, looking down at the floor. He felt Loki's fingers run gently through his hair.

"I don't like upsetting you, pet. It's probably just this." He gestured to his arm and Steve could just about make out blood staining the black fabric.

"Someone hurt you?"

"It's nothing you can't fix, darling." He said softly, keeping his hand knotted in Steve's hair and looking down at him expectantly. Steve nodded and closed his eyes, trying to focus on getting his powers to work. They were pretty touch and go, he still hadn't quite worked out what set them off, but soon he could see the blue glow of his usually blonde hair reflecting off Loki's face. The bloodstain on his sleeve started to clear up, and when he pushed his sleeve up they could both see that his arm was undamaged. "You're so clever, darling, what would I do without you. Now, I must be going, but perhaps seeing as I'm already down here I should take another sample just for good measure." He pulled a small syringe out from his coat and Steve sighed, holding out his arm so Loki could draw some of his blood. As he was sitting there he saw Peg-E out of the corner of his eye, circling around his sketchbook and blinking it's light at him.

"Before you go I... I wanted to ask something." Loki glanced up at him briefly and Steve could already tell this was a lost cause, but he carried on anyway. "Tomorrow's my birthday and... I was thinking... I thought that maybe..."

"Please get on with it, Steven."

"I thought maybe I could go out and see the lights they do every year?" Loki's head snapped up and he gave Steve a stony glare, putting the cap back onto the syringe. "They do them every year on my birthday and I've never gotten to see them properly so I just thought that..."

"Enough!" The yell echoed around the room and Steve looked down at the floor. He  felt cold hands cup his cheeks and tilt his head up but he avoided Loki's eyes. "You remember what happened last time you went out there?" Steve nodded, but he was lying. He didn't remember what had happened, he only had Loki's account of it. "I'm trying to keep you safe, pet, I don't want you getting hurt." He looked back up at Loki, whose gaze had softened.

"I'm sorry."

"It's alright, darling. I'll see you in a few days time." Before Steve could say anything in response Loki had taken a few steps back and, with a wave of his hand, disappeared in front of him.  
Steve pushed himself up from the chair and walked over to where Peg-E was, holding his hand out for it to crawl onto and lifting it up so it was level with his face.

"See? I told you it wouldn't work." He mumbled, scratching at the top of the robots body like it was an animal. "I think you were the last birthday present I was ever going to get." Peg-E didn't say anything, it just blinked it's light at him and started crawling along his arm. Sighing, he headed upstairs and sat back down in the same corner of the same room, going back to his sketches.

He didn't remember falling asleep, but the next thing he knew he was being woken up by Peg-E frantically scratching at his face. He looked over at the robot and opened his mouth to say something when it started pointing one of it's legs towards the staircase. That was when he heard it. Somebody was outside. He could hear the knob of the front door being fumbled with and what sounded like angry muttering.  
His heart was racing. He couldn't remember much prior to his last five years here, but he did remember the stories Loki had told him about the kind of people that lived out there, and the kind of things they would do to him if they found out about his powers. He stood up slowly and made his way down the stairs, trying desperately not to make any noise. Once he was in the kitchen he looked around for some kind of weapon, there were knives, but he wasn't sure he could bring himself to do that kind of damage, then he saw a frying pan sitting on the counter and grabbed that. He made his way into the front room and could just about make out the figure of somebody through the glass, fumbling at the lock of the door. He pressed himself up against the wall next to the door just as it swung open and a brunette man dressed all in black stepped through the door, holding a large metal case.  
The man didn't seem to notice him. He just stood in the doorway holding the case up and speaking in a muffled voice that Steve couldn't understand through the mask the man had on. Deciding not to waste any more time he quickly sprung up and whacked the man directly on the forehead with the frying pan, knocking him unconscious.

"That was easy." Steve shrugged, pushing the door shut and looking over at Peg-E, who was perched on his shoulder. "And Loki thinks I wouldn't be safe out there." Peg-E just blinked it's light at him and he turned his attention back to the man lying on the floor. "What should we do with him?"  
The robot pointed one of it's legs over at the wooden chairs in the kitchen and Steve nodded in understanding, grabbing the unconscious man by the wrists and hauling him across the room. The man was heavier than he looked, but Steve managed to get him up into one of the chairs. He was suddenly thankful that Loki had left him a few things for this kind of situation, which happened to include a pair of handcuffs that Steve could use to secure the man to the chair. He got rid of the weapons the man was carrying, as well as taking off his mask so he could get a better look at his face. From what he could gather, this guy was human, although he knew Loki was capable of making himself fit in with other people so he could never really know for sure, but he looked fairly normal all the same.  
Steve turned his attention to the case the man had been carrying, which had a faint blue glow seeping out through the cracks. He went to open the latch when he felt Peg-E scratching at his neck.

"Yeah, you're probably right. I should go put this somewhere." He said, smiling when the robot blinked it's light in approval. There was an empty cabinet in the kitchen, so he shoved the case in there and padlocked the door shut, perching himself on the counter and trying to decide what he would do when this man woke up.


	2. We're going on an adventure

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Two sarcastic assholes have an argument, and Bucky develops a crush he instantly regrets.

Bucky woke up when he felt a sharp sting of a needle sticking into his cheek. His head was throbbing and he couldn't move his hands. Shit.  
He glanced around to try and find the source of the pain in his cheek and saw what looked like a giant spider sitting on his shoulder, and it wasn't until he blinked a few more times and his vision focused that he realised it was made of metal. It blinked a tiny green light at him and he shook his shoulder, trying to get the thing off him. The only thing that succeeded in doing was making the tiny spider-robot dig it's needle legs into his shoulder and he let out an exasperated sigh.

"Look, buddy, I'm having what you might call a rough day so if you're gonna sit there I'd appreciate it if you didn't shine that light in my face." To his amazement the robo-spider seemed to understand him and it turned it's head... body? around so that the light wasn't shining on him. Now that the weird creature seemed to be content with leaving him alone, he turned his attention to his hands, which had been handcuffed behind his back so he couldn't move. After struggling with them for all of ten seconds, he gave up and turned back to the robot. "Hey, leggy. You must be pretty good at picking locks right?"

"It won't help you." He whipped his head around at the sound of the voice and saw a tall man staring at him. How the hell had he not noticed him? The man took a step forward out of the shadows and Bucky looked him up and down. He had short blonde hair and strong chiselled features, and he looked strong. Really strong. Strong enough to pin him against a wall and... wait, what? Bucky snapped himself out of the little fantasy he'd just started to create and put his game face back on, suddenly remembering who he worked for and what this guy most likely intended to do to him.

"Look, if you're after any juicy secrets you've got the wrong guy. Nobody trusts me with anything which, to be honest, is probably wise of them." The man raised an eyebrow at him and took another step forward. Was that a frying pan in his hand?

"How did you find me?"

"I'm sorry?" Bucky focused on the man's face, trying to work out if he was supposed to know who this guy was. He came up blank, although he couldn't shake the feeling he did know him from somewhere, but that could be the concussion talking.

"I said, how did you find me." The man held the frying pan in front of Bucky's face in some sort of threat. Was this guy on drugs? Was he on drugs?

"Look pal, I don't know who you are or what the fuck is going on right now, so I'd appreciate it if you took these handcuffs off." He struggled against the handcuffs again as if to prove a point but the man just hit him on the top of the head with the frying pan. "Ow! Jesus Christ what are you from the stone age or something? Did your taser run out of batteries?" The man stared at him as if he was speaking a different language.

"Did somebody send you? What do they know about me?"

"I don't even know who the fuck you are!" That seemed to catch the man off guard and he blinked at him in surprise, scooping up the metal spider that had been sitting on his shoulder and heading off into the corner. Bucky stared in bewilderment at this grown man stood, having a one sided conversation with a piece of scrap metal. He strained his ears but all he managed to make out was "outside", "trust him", and "lights".

"So uh... are you just gonna leave me tied here while you talk to your spider?"

"Yes. And it's not a spider, it's Peg-E."

"Well she's creepy."

"It's not a girl."

"Then why'd you call it Peggy?"

"I didn't. It's Peg. E"

"That's fucking stupid, man." Bucky sighed, shaking his head in amazement. The man just narrowed his eyes at him and turned back to his spider... or Peggy... or whatever.  
After about five minutes he walked back over and looked down at Bucky.

"You never answered my question."

"You're questions didn't make any sense."

"I asked who you were." Bucky sighed. He didn't really want to tell him his real name and wished he had some kind of cool secret agent name that he could give him, then maybe the guy would back off. Unfortunately he hadn't quite reached the high class status within Hydra that earned you a cool nickname. But then, a few minutes ago this guy had been threatening him with a frying pan, so he probably couldn't do much harm.

"James Barnes. Back in the day when I had friends they'd call me Bucky."

"What happened to your arm?" The man gestured towards his metal arm and Bucky raised an eyebrow.

"Is that how you introduce yourself to everyone? By pointing out their abnormal features? Because two can play at that game." Actually two couldn't play at that game, right now Bucky was struggling to pick out a single flaw in the man standing in front of him.

"No, I just... sorry. I... is it dangerous?"

"No, but the person attached to it will be if you don't get on with it. Now are you gonna sit and play 20 questions with me or are you gonna let me go?"

"No... Yes..." Bucky almost wished he'd been captured by a proper agent who wanted to torture and interrogate him, because this guy was just giving him a headache.

"Gonna need a straight answer here, pal."

"I... I'm gonna offer you a deal."

"Does this deal involve sexual favours? Because I'm down for that."

"What?"

"Nothing." The man stared at him in confusion for a moment before continuing with his rambling. He picked up a sketchbook and held it in front of Bucky. On the page was an unbelievably detailed drawing of some fireworks. "That's real pretty, bud, now can we move on to letting me go?"

"You know what these are?"

"The fireworks?"

"And they're gonna appear tomorrow again?"

"... yeah?" Bucky was getting tired of this and started trying to shuffle around on the chair he was tied to, but the man just gripped his shoulder and held him still.

"I'll let you go. But only if you agree to take me outside to see these, and then bring me back here again without us getting caught." The other man was staring into Bucky's eyes and he realised this guy was actually serious.

"Right... That's not gonna happen. The city is kinda filled with people who want me dead at the moment. Plus I need to get this mojo cube back to... wait... where is my mojo cube?" He started looking around the room frantically and the man just smirked at him.

"I've hidden it, and you won't find it until you bring me back here tomorrow."

"Do you even know what that thing can do?!"

"No."

"... Me neither come to think of it. But I need to get it back to my boss by tonight or else I'm a dead man." Suddenly the frying pan was in his face again and he sighed, clearly his life was not of much importance to this guy. "So, if you let me go... we could go see the fireworks..." He gathered together as much inner beauty he could find to try and pull the most attractive face possible, and stuck his leg out slightly, nudging his foot at the blonde's leg. "..Or there are other things we could do."  
The other man just stared at him in confusion, looking briefly over at the robot on his shoulder and then back at Bucky again.

"What are you doing?"

"Wow. Is nothing going to go right for me today? First I get chased across a city, then Falcon hunts me down and acts like a huge asshole, then I get hid in the head and tied to a chair, and _now_ there's a cute blonde in front of me who isn't even remotely interested in me. This day just keeps getting worse. You know what? Fine. I'll take you into the city."

His face lit up and he spun around, whacking Bucky in the face with his frying pan in the process. "Oops! Sorry! I just... you'll really take me?"

"Provided these damn handcuffs are off my wrists within the next 20 seconds, yes." He wriggled his hands again and the man nodded, pulling a key out of his pocket and crouching down to unlock the handcuffs. While he was fumbling with the lock Bucky weighed up his options. If he was quick he could probably knock this guy out as soon as his hands were free, then he could find the cube and get back to Hydra. But on the other hand, he hadn't had a single day off in the 7 years he'd been working for them, and the idea of a night just wandering around the city actually sounded pretty nice. He heard the lock click and made up his mind. "Okay, I'm gonna need my gun back if you want me to go out there because, no offense, but a frying pan really isn't gonna cut it. Don't suppose you have any ammo?"

"I'm not giving you a gun."

"And I'm not taking you outside without one, capiche?" The other man narrowed his eyes at him and sighed.

"I think there's some stuff upstairs, I'll go check. Don't move." He said sternly as he walked up the stairs. Bucky ignored him and got up as soon as he was out of sight, walking over to the pile of stuff that had been taken off him to decide what he'd need.  
The mask would probably draw more attention to him so he tossed that to the side, but he reattached the knife he'd forgotten he had to his belt, along with his ammo-less gun. He looked down at what he was wearing. The whole black-on-black-on-black look wasn't going to do him any favours in avoiding being recognised.

"Hey, blondie!" He yelled up the stairs. "Can you spare a shirt?"

"It's Steve!" A voice called back as a blue cotton shirt dropped down. Bucky caught it and started tugging off the various layers of black leather they made him wear, before pulling the shirt on. It made it harder to disguise the weapons he had in his belt but he figured he'd have to make do. "I don't know what else is in here, but there might be something useful." Steve said as he came back down the stairs carrying a large cardboard box. He thumped it down on the counter and Bucky started rifling through what was in it.  
There wasn't any ammunition for his gun, but there was a smaller, more convenient one in there so he took that one instead. There was also a flashlight and some rope which looked like they might come in useful.

"You got a bag we can put this stuff in, blondie?"

"Steve." He muttered as he shuffled into the next room, coming back a moment later with a grey backpack in his hand. Bucky shoved the rope and flashlight into the bag, along with another gun and a few food items.

"Can't we just go someplace to eat?"

"I'm taking you to see the fireworks, not for a candlelit dinner, pal. Besides I'm kind of wanted dead by several superheroes. Plus my boss has probably already sent out a bunch of people to track down my useless ass... come to think of it..." He pulled the knife out of his belt and started cutting into his arm.

"What the fuck are you doing!?" Steve yelled and Bucky rolled his eyes.

"You were such bad company I figured I'd just end the suffering. They've chipped me you moron." He found the microchip and tossed it behind him. "Or would you prefer to make this journey with half of Hydra hunting us down? At least if they follow the signal here they might be able to find their precious cube and then I'll be in for slightly less of a beating when I get back." Steve just stared at him as he swung the backpack over his shoulder. The little robot on Steve's shoulder blinked it's green light at him and he frowned. "You're not bringing that thing with us are you?"

"I'm not leaving it here on it's own."

"It's a piece of metal, I think it'll manage."

"Peg-E's coming."

"You're a stubborn jerk."

"You're a bossy, sarcastic asshole."

"Touché. I suppose you're bringing your frying pan too, just in case we bump into an evil baker who wants to fight you with a rolling pin?" Steve turned around and picked the frying pan up of the counter, shooting him a stubborn look. Bucky just dragged his hand down his face and sighed, pushing past Steve and heading for the front door. "So I just have one question about this whole... dude come one."  
Steve was standing in the doorway, glancing over at his robot uncertainly. He looked over when Bucky started tapping his foot impatiently and raising an eyebrow at him.

"If you're waiting for me to carry you, you can forget it."

"No I just... I've never been outside before."

"Right, and I'm the queen of England."

"I'm serious." Bucky frowned at him and walked back over.

"You want me to hold your hand, princess?" He smirked and Steve glared at him, pushing him away and walking through the doorway. "Great! We're making progress, congratulations on conquering your fear." Bucky had meant that almost sincerely but Steve just punched him hard in the arm.

"Are you gonna be a dick for the whole trip?"

"Only if you ask nicely."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There's a reason I didn't do chapter summaries in my last fic... and I instantly regret deciding to do them in this one.


	3. Frying pans are a boy's best friend

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Turns out Steve wasn't as crazy as Bucky thought for bringing a frying pan with them. It also turns out that Bucky had massively underestimated just how weird this whole day could get.

"So tell me." Bucky said as the pair walked back down the abandoned tunnel. "If you always wanted to see these fireworks so bad, how come you never just went? I mean look at you, you could probably punch through a wall if you wanted, I doubt a locked door would really do much to stop you getting out." Steve just shrugged and kicked at a bit of rubble on the floor.

"It was too dangerous."

"So you figured it would be safer to let a guy you've never met, who happened to be in the possession of multiple weapons and a strange glowing cube, take you out?"

"I figured it would be safer to have someone so annoying that anybody we bump into will be guaranteed to shoot you first."

"I am truly touched." Steve smirked at him and Bucky narrowed his eyes. "Just remember that I have an actual gun and you have a frying pan, so if anything they'll see you as the easier target. The only reason I agreed to this is so I have someone to hide behind when people start trying to kill us."

"Is that likely to happen?"

"I'm kind of on the Avengers' most wanted list right now... so yeah it's pretty likely."

"The who?"

"Dude have you been living under a rock?"

"No, I've been living in an abandoned building with no connection to the outside world."

"Touché. They're like this little group of super pals who go around kicking bad guys' asses and _'keeping America safe'_."

"They sound like a bunch of assholes."

"Whoa, have care how you speak, man. Unless you want to end up on their hitlist too." Steve just shrugged again and Bucky chuckled, shaking his head at the nutcase he'd somehow managed to end up with. "How do you get yourself in these situations, Bucky? Today started off so normal. Just breaking into the home of multiple super humans and stealing their magical objects. It was so simple. I miss those days."

"Who are you talking to?" Bucky spun around to face Steve, who was looking at him with his eyebrows raised.

"Shit. Was I saying that out loud? Have I been doing that the whole time? Jesus it's only 4 o'clock and I've already lost my fucking mind. I need to lie down. If we make it through this without dying you're buying me a drink, I will not take no for an answer."

"Have you always been such a drama queen?"

"You sound like my mother."

Steve didn't respond to that so they continued walking down the tunnel, the only noise being the occasional buzzing from Peg-E. They got close to the exit when Bucky grabbed Steve by the shirt and pulled him back.

"What the hell are you doing?" Bucky just shushed him and tried to listen for any sound of movement outside, covering Steve's mouth with his metal hand when he tried to protest.

"Hey, Peggy might be able to make a useful scout robot. We should send it out to see if anybody's waiting for us." He whispered, pointing at the little robot that was perched on Steve's shoulder. Steve just shook his head and pulled Bucky's hand away from his mouth.

"Why don't you go?"

"You value a robot spider's life over mine?"

"Yes."

"Ouch." Bucky put a hand over his heart and sighed dramatically. "I can't believe that after all we've been through you don't..."

"Just get on with it." Steve gave him a hard stare and Bucky shrugged, pulling the gun out of his belt and taking a few more steps towards the opening of the tunnel.

"You realise if I die you'll have nobody to take you the rest of the way."

"Then make sure you don't die." He frowned and Steve smirked at him, gesturing ahead and prompting Bucky to carry on out of the tunnel.  
He peered around the edge of the tunnel and couldn't see anyone, so he stepped out slightly to get a better view. The minute he did so he heard a familiar voice.

"That's him." He spun around and froze. Falcon was standing about ten feet away from him, with the rest of the Avengers behind him, all staring right at him. Shit, shit, shit. On the bright side they didn't seem to have managed to track down their pet rage monster yet, so he at least had a slight chance of getting out of this alive.

"Oh hey guys, long time no see. Have you been working out because you all look incredible. I love what you did with your hair, redhead. Look I'd love to stay so we could all have a good old catch up, but unfortunately I am otherwise enga..."

"Where's the cube?"

"Cube?" Bucky tried to pull his best innocent face, rocking back on his heels and putting his hands behind his back. The people in front of him all threw him matching angry looks and he sighed. "Look, I don't have it. I've put my past behind me and now I'm a changed man."  
Before he could even blink he was pinned against the wall, and redhead had her hand around his throat. "Is this your method of flirting with me? Because I don't swing that way." He choked out, grinning at her. Redhead kicked him hard in the shin and glared at him.

"You think you're funny?"

"I think I'm hilarious... although nobody else seems to."

"Who do you... ow!" Bucky and redhead both looked over at her shoulder, where Peg-E was digging it's legs into her. She let go of Bucky's throat and he ducked under her, only to come face to face with the rest of the team. He pulled his gun up and started shooting fairly aimlessly at them in an attempt to scatter them out a bit, but all it really succeeded in doing was prompting Iron Man to start shooting back at him. One shot almost caught him in the face when something flew past and deflected it. Bucky looked over and saw the frying pan lying on the floor.

"I take back everything I said about you, you are awesome." He said as he picked it up, using it to deflect some of the other shots that were fired at him. He had no idea where Steve had gone, he was nowhere to be seen when Bucky glanced into the tunnel.

"You know I have to give you some credit, you've lasted longer than most guys who break into our base." He turned back around and saw Iron Man standing behind him with his arms crossed and the front of his helmet open so his face was visible. Bucky just shrugged.

"I'm not like other guys." He winked at the metal man, who smirked briefly before lifting his hand up to shoot at him again. Bucky _just_ managed to duck out of the way before getting his face blasted off. He kicked Iron Man's legs out from underneath him and smacked him in the face with the frying pan he was still holding. "Man I've been going about this all wrong, frying pans are the way to go." He said to redhead, just before knocking her in the head with it. Peg-E, who had still been attacking her shoulder, leapt onto the frying pan as he hit her with it and crawled up his arm. "Don't suppose you know where your blonde friend's gotten to?" The robot blinked it's light at him and he frowned, looking around for any sign of him.  
He was interrupted by Falcon landing in front of him and trying to punch him in the face, which Bucky managed to block with the frying pan.

"Are you fighting me with kitchenware?!"

"Apparently. This is the weirdest thing I've ever done!"

"Would you believe me if I said I'd done weirder?"  
They stood there fighting, fist to pan for about a minute when Bucky suddenly found himself being pulled backwards by his shirt. He glanced around just enough to see a flash of blonde hair, before focusing on trying not to fall on his ass running backwards, deflecting some more shots that were being fired at them.

"Uh... where are we going?"

"There's some old huts around the corner."

"How the fuck did you get past them? What are you, a ninja?"

"No, you just suck at your job."

"Wow. I could have died for you and you're still being a dick."

"Would you shut up?"  
Steve pulled Bucky into one of the huts on the dock and they both crouched under the window, trying to catch their breath.

"Nice going, blondie. I'll make an assassin of you yet."

"You're a pretty poor excuse for an assassin if that was anything to go by."

"Well I mean, I'm not one yet. I'm still working my way towards that... hey can you hear that noise?"

"The only noise I can hear is you." Bucky let out a frustrated sigh and put his hand over Steve's mouth again to shut him up, he could just make out a faint beeping noise over the sound of the water underneath them.

 "Is that you?" He asked, glancing at the robot on his shoulder. It twisted it's body slightly as if it were shaking it's head and he frowned, pushing himself up and peering out of the window. There was an arrow sticking into the wall of the hut, with a red light that was flashing more and more rapidly. Shit, he always forgot about the fucking archer. "We need to get out of here right..." Bucky didn't get to finish his sentence as the arrow exploded, causing the dock beneath them to collapse and sending the hut they were in down into the water.  
It was pitch black inside the hut now, but Bucky could feel the water slowly rising beneath him. Right now it was only at his knees, but it was coming up fast.

"Jesus Christ what was that?" He yelled as someone grabbed his arm.

"It's the ghost of Christmas fucking past. Who the hell do you think it is, you idiot?"

"I am on the edge of death right now. I think I'm entitled to be a little jumpy."

"You're hardly on the edge of death."

"We. Are. About. To. Drown. How are you so calm about this?!" The water was up to Bucky's hips now and he let out a whine. "Oh Jesus. This is it. I had a good life. Wait what am I talking about? I had a shitty life. Oh Christ I had a shitty life and now we're gonna die. There are so many things I never got to do. Fucking hell."

"You know we'll die faster if you carry on hyperventilating and using up all the oxygen we have left."

"Way to make me feel better, jerk."

"Look, we just need to find where the door to this thing is and we can get out, where's Peg-E? It has a light." Bucky put his hand on his shoulder where the robot had last been, but it wasn't there.

"Shit. It was on my shoulder. It must've fallen in the water."

"Are you kidding me? We need to find it, water will kill it."

"I'm going to die and the only company I have is a crazed lunatic who cares more about a robot than other human beings." The water was up to his chin now. Bucky put his face in his hands and sighed. "What did I do to deserve this?"

"You are so overdramatic it's almost nauseating. Just come over here."

"Are you gonna make out with me before we die? That's sweet, blondie, I appreciate that." He could hear Steve sighing in disbelief next to him, and felt a hand grab his arm as the water went over his head.  
Suddenly everything was glowing blue. At first Bucky figured this was some kind of freaky afterlife thing, but after he opened his eyes he realised it was actually Steve's hair. Steve's hair was glowing blue. How many fucking drugs was he on? Using the light from Steve's... magical glowing hair... they managed to find the doorway to the hut. Bucky even spotted Peg-E's little robot body floating around and grabbed it before they swam out.  
Steve pulled them both back up onto what remained of the dock. Thankfully the Avengers had taken them for dead and cleared off, so they could both lie face down on the ground for a few minutes and get their breath back. When Bucky looked over at Steve his hair had gone back to normal, and he didn't seem particularly phased by the fact that a few moments ago his head had been glowing bright blue.

"So... uh... how long has your hair been doing that?"

"Doing what?"

"Oh jeeze I don't know... glowing?" Steve rolled onto his side and gave him a puzzled look.

"Your hair doesn't do that?"

"No, Steve, my hair generally doesn't light up."

"Oh... mine's always done that."

"You know, I was just starting to think that maybe this day was done getting crazier. Oh hey, speaking of crazy, I found your robot friend. Looks a little worse for wear though." Bucky moved his arm out from underneath him and put the robot down on the ground. One of it's legs twitched slightly, but apart from that it wasn't moving. Steve just stared at it and didn't say anything, so Bucky stretched his arm over and squeezed his shoulder. "Hey, maybe we can fix it up. But right now we need to find some place to spend the night. C'mon." He pushed himself to his feet and held his hand out to pull Steve up, who just nodded and scooped the robot up in his spare hand. Thankfully Bucky had managed to keep hold of the backpack he'd brought, although it was completely soaked through and most of the things he'd packed would be ruined. Nonetheless he swung it over his shoulder and ran a hand through his wet hair.

"Where do you think we should go?" Steve mumbled and Bucky shrugged, draping his arm over Steve's shoulder.

"Anywhere that doesn't involve staring death in the face again."


	4. Part time assassin, part time comedian

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Not all Hydra agents are stone cold villains, some can be cute and cuddly and tell terrible jokes all the time.

Loki was reaching the end of his tether. For five years now he had been working away, trying to figure out how his pet super soldier had managed to absorb some of the Tesseract's energy, and yet still he hadn't gotten any closer to discovering it. He wanted to be making more progress at the moment, but unfortunately killing your father and disguising yourself as him did have its drawbacks, and right now he was being forced to sit and listen to the long list of problems the Asgardians were suffering from that he could do absolutely nothing about other than nod, smile, and thank them for seeking him out. Maybe he should just reveal his true self, right now, and see how everyone reacted. That could be fun.  
He drummed his fingers impatiently on the arm of Odin's throne and sighed as the woman in front of him droned on about how she was certain she'd had a premonition about her own death. He wanted to ask whether her premonition had involved the king of Asgard slicing her head off with an axe, but that seemed impolite.

"There was fire, my king, great plumes of fire, and..."

"Fandral, have this woman and her family taken down to the nearest body of water. That way if she is to catch fire she will be easily able to extinguish herself." He interrupted, smiling as genuinely as he could when the woman curtsied and walked back down the hall with the blonde warrior at her side. He turned towards the knight who had been standing next to him throughout the entire ordeal. "Please, please tell me that was the last of them."

"I believe so, my king. However, your son visited earlier and asked me to deliver a message."

"I really don't have time to hear about Thor's vacation activities."

"If you will, my king, he said somebody broke into the Midgardian Warriors' vault and stole the Tesseract."

"What?! Did he say who?"

"No, my king."

Loki leapt up which much more energy than was to be expected from the ancient old man he was taking the form of, he tried to compensate by groaning slightly as he turned back to the knight.

"Send away anyone who asks for me for the rest of the day. I will be in my tower and I will not be disturbed."

"Yes, my king." The knight bowed and Loki turned back, making his way down the hall and up the stairs to his tower. Once inside he immediately cast off his magic and ran his fingers through his long hair nervously as he paced over to the bowl on his table.  
The room that the water in the bowl was reflecting was quiet and Loki's heart stopped for a second. He tried to calm himself down as his eyes scanned every corner of the room he was looking at, trying to find any sign that Steve was there. It wasn't like he hadn't seen the room empty before, sometimes Steve would choose other places to sit, sometimes he was cleaning, but if Loki lost him now he would have lost all hope of ever regaining the Tesseract's power. He dragged his hand down his face and sighed. He would have to go back down there. Fortunately all the time he'd spent reading through all his mother's books in an attempt to find some clue about how to get the Tesseract's energy out of Steve had helped him to greatly improve his magic, which made it a lot easier for him to get from one place to another without having to come up with wild new excuses to Hiemdall about why the Allfather had to visit Midgard again.  
With a few flicks of his wrist he was back in the building he kept Steve in, and he shuddered at how quiet it was.

"Steve?" He called, more quietly than he had intended. "Steven, where are you?" When he didn't get an answer he started looking around the room, immediately noticing the open cupboard where he knew Steve kept the Midgardian weapons he'd given him. Taking the stairs two at a time he went down into the kitchen and found the box, open on top of the kitchen counter with several things missing from it. He was about to start looking around the rest of the building when he heard the sound of the front door hitting the wall as the wind blew it. Steve was long gone.  
Loki put his head in his hands for a minute and sighed, before kicking furiously at one of the cabinets and smashing a hole in it. As he did that, a faint blue glow started shining out and he crouched down to see where it was coming from. There was a sturdy metal case inside the cabinet which he pulled out and examined, tracing his finger along the edge before unclasping and opening it.  
Clearly fate had gotten him confused with his wretched brother and actually bestowed some good luck on him for once. The Tesseract was strapped down in the case, glowing a brilliant blue, though it didn't seem to be glowing as brightly as Loki remembered. He unstrapped it and picked it up, twisting it around to examine the whole thing. His eyes fell upon one corner, which had actually become multiple corners where a small piece looked like it had chipped off. That would explain why Thor and his band of lunatics hadn't done anything with it. The Tesseract's power wouldn't be nearly as great if it was broken, but there was no way Loki would be able to find the tiny piece that was missing from it... unless...

"Oh you idiot!" He yelled, smacking himself in the forehead. Suddenly it was obvious why he hadn't been able to find how Steve had absorbed some of the Tesseract energy, it was because he never did. He must have a piece of it in him somewhere. But now Loki had no idea where he was, and if the Avengers found him before he did it would be game over, they may be terrible at guarding infinity stones but there was no way they would forget the face of their precious super soldier.  
Loki heard footsteps approaching and looked up to see two masked men pointing guns at him.

"I think you'll find that belongs to us." One of them said, firing the gun at Loki's head. He just laughed and flicked his wrist, disappearing and reappearing behind the men, holding the Tesseract firmly in his hand. They both spun around, looking at each other in bewilderment.

"Gentlemen, I would suggest you stop and think for a moment before shooting wildly at people's heads." Neither of the men said anything and he smirked. "Who sent you here?"

"We tracked one of our... agents to this area. He was supposed to be bringing that to us." Loki frowned and started looking around the room, spotting the microchip on the floor almost immediately.

"Is this what you were tracking?"

"Oh that son of a bitch! I told Pierce, I fucking told him Barnes was a waste of space. That guy's been wanting to give us the slip from the moment we recruited him." One of the men tore his mask off, and threw it on the ground in disgust. "Look pal, if we don't get that cube back to our boss he's gonna..."

"Oh of course, take it." He gently tossed the Tesseract over to them and they both frantically hurried forward to stop it hitting the ground. "Although it won't be much use to anybody in that condition." They looked up at him and he shrugged. "There's a piece missing. Without it, the Tesseract is as good as useless."

"Well how the hell are we meant to find the missing piece?"

"By helping me. I know who has it and, if you help me get it back, I will show you how to use the cube to its full potential." The masked man nodded while the other lifted his finger to his ear and started speaking.

"Sir? It's Rumlow. We found the cube, and someone who knows how to use it, we  just need to... what? No, sir, there's no sign of Barnes, he ripped out his chip." Loki could just about make out the sound of someone cursing through the agent's earpiece, and he grinned.

"I imagine finding the missing piece will also lead you to your missing agent." He added, which the man then repeated through his earpiece. After a few minutes of explaining everything Loki had told him he nodded.

"We'll help you. Find us Barnes and you'll even get a share of the glory when we start work on the cube."

Loki wanted to say that they'd be lucky if they got any glory at all, but instead he just smirked and said. "You'll get your agent, but you'll have to ensure you do everything I say."

Trying to get things done with the two agents, one of which Loki still didn't know the name of, for company was remarkably similar to trying to focus with Thor around. While Loki was all about being patient and, more importantly, silent, the agents seemed mostly interested in punching anything that moved. Any person they happened to cross paths with ended up pinned to a wall by Rumlow, while the other agent questioned them about whether they had seen a blonde man anywhere. Obviously it was difficult. Almost every person they saw had seen a blonde man, there were a lot of blonde men in New York, so their questioning didn't really get them anywhere. It wasn't until they heard about a fight that had gone on between the Avengers and a man with a frying pan, which Rumlow insisted had to be Barnes because "He was always getting himself into ridiculous situations like that", that they made any real progress. They found the part of the dock which Hawkeye had supposedly blown up, and kept moving along the edge of the dock until they found what looked like an abandoned shop, which had a light in the window and the sound of voices inside.

"That's him, that's Barnes. I recognise his obnoxious voice." Rumlow muttered, taking a step towards it. Loki put a hand out to stop him, waving off the magic spell that he'd been disguised under.

"Didn't you ever learn that patience is a virtue? Let me talk to him first."

"Don't tell me you're attached to the guy?"

"No, I just know how much he's capable of, and I'd prefer it not to have him against us. Which means not laying a finger on your agent until I've turned them against each other." Neither of the agents looked happy, but they both nodded in agreement and Loki started making his way over to the building.

* * *

 

Bucky had been spending most of their journey trying to cheer Steve up by telling him terrible jokes, but Steve hadn't really been listening. He hadn't even really been paying attention to where he was walking, all he could focus on was Peg-E's lifeless little body in his hand.

"Hey, Steve, what's a horny pirate's worst nightmare?" Steve glanced over at him and shrugged. "A sunken chest with no booty." Bucky grinned at him and Steve just rolled his eyes.

"How many more of these do you have?"

"I could go on all night."

"And are all of them pirate themed?" Bucky looked a little offended, but there was no way he could deny there hadn't been a trend in most of the jokes he'd told so far.

"Pirates are cool. Hey, why did the pirate have a hard time learning the alphabet?"

"Because he thought there were seven Cs?"

"Fuck."

"Will you stop now?"

"I'm just trying to lighten the mood a little, Stevie." Bucky said, nudging at Steve's shoulder and smiling at him. "Look, my dad was an engineer so I might have picked a few things up from him. Once we find somewhere to stay I'll see if I can fix it up, 'kay?" Steve nodded, and let Bucky continue telling his pirate jokes without complaining.

They kept walking around the edge of the dock for almost an hour before Bucky spotted a long abandoned ice cream shop, which he insisted would do as a place to stay.

"Isn't it a little exposed?"

"Steve I swear to god if I take one more step my legs are gonna fall off, this'll have to do."

"You don't want me to carry you over there do you?"

"Why, are you offering?" Steve took a step back but Bucky was too quick for him and he hooked his arm around Steve's neck, throwing his legs up so Steve had no choice but to grab him and lift him up.

"You're unbelievable."

"You're strong. Now come on, time's a wastin'."

"I'm gonna drop you in the water if you're not careful." Steve muttered, trudging over to the shop with Bucky giggling in his arms.

"Will you cheer up if I tell you more jokes?"

"No."

"Why can't you hear a pterodactyl go to the bathroom? Because the P is silent."

"Jesus."

"How many tickles does it take to tickle a squid? Ten tickles."

"Okay that's it." Steve swung his arms slightly as if to throw Bucky over the edge and he felt metal fingers grabbing at his shirt.

"Alright, alright I'll stop!" He yelled and Steve threw his head back laughing. "You're a real dick you know that?"

"You're calling me a dick? I'm not the one forcing people to carry me, you're like a fucking princess."

"Am I a pretty princess, Stevie?"

"The prettiest."

"I bet you say that to all the girls." Steve rolled his eyes as he pushed open the door of the shop, dumping Bucky unceremoniously onto the floor and laughing as he groaned in pain. "I don't feel I really deserved that." Steve ignored him and started looking around the inside of the shop. It was bigger than it had looked, with a couple of tables and chairs, a bright red couch against the wall, and a counter with an old ice cream machine standing on it.

"You think anybody still comes in here?"

"Well if they do, they should think about cleaning the place." Bucky mumbled, wiping his finger along one of the tables and turning to look around the room. "Ooh that could come in handy, quick pass me your dead robot."  
Hesitantly, Steve handed him Peg-E and then watched as Bucky vaulted over the counter and grabbed a toolbox that was sitting on the floor. He pulled himself up onto the counter and sat cross-legged, examining the tiny robot.

"You think you can fix it?"

"I can try. Just promise me you won't carry on moping around with a face like thunder if I can't." Steve nodded, although he wasn't sure he'd be able to keep that promise considering Peg-E had been the closest thing he'd had to a friend for the last four years. "Why you so attached to the little guy anyway?"

"You would be too if it was the only thing you'd had for company." Bucky glanced up at him briefly before going back to unscrewing part of Peg-E's body.

"You know, I'm not one for intruding on people's business, but I feel like at this point I'm owed some sort of explanation."

"Explanation of what?"

"Of anything. Of why your fucking hair glows. Or how you got this crazy robot. Or why you were so terrified of going outside." Steve sighed and sat down on one of the chairs, watching as Bucky started examining Peg-E's circuitry.

"Last time I went outside I... well, I don't actually remember what happened. I lost most of my memory after it happened. Loki said..."

"Who?"

"He uh... kinda raised me, I think. I mean that's what he told me anyway. Said he found me when I was a baby and had been looking after me, trying to keep me safe from everyone who wanted to use my powers."

"What did they want to use you as a nightlight?"

"My hair doesn't just glow... it can heal people." Bucky put Peg-E down on the counter and looked at him.

"Well that's... interesting. How long has it been doing that?"

"All my life I guess."

"Could it heal this?" He pushed his sleeve up to reveal the cut he'd made earlier to get rid of his microchip. Steve nodded and got up. "You could have mentioned this earlier rather than let me wander around with a bleeding arm."

"Didn't want to freak you out."

"You know, Steve, if you don't want to freak somebody out, knocking them unconscious and handcuffing them to a chair isn't a great start."

"You're the one who broke into my house, now give me your hand and shut up." Steve took Bucky's hand and put it in his hair, trying not to laugh at Bucky's face when the magic started working. It only took a few seconds for the cut to heal.

"Is that it?"

"Did you think I was gonna start singing or something?" Bucky shrugged and moved his hand, going back to work on Peg-E.

"Okay, so this guy has been raising you since you were a kid and telling you not to go outside... but you don't remember any of that?"

"No. Five years ago I ran off, and then the next thing I knew I was back in that building. Loki told me I was attacked and he only just saved me in time, since then I've never really considered going out again."

"So... are you gonna go back?"

"Huh?"

"After we see the fireworks, you're still gonna go back there and never come out again?"

"I guess so. I don't really have much of a choice do I?"

"Well I just thought that... hey!" Bucky set the revived Peg-E down on the counter and grinned as it started crawling around in a circle, flashing it's light again. "And my dad said I'd never amount to anything. How you feelin' little guy? You had poor Stevie worried sick." The little robot turned around and blinked it's light at Steve, crawling down the counter and up onto his shoulder.

"You actually fixed him."

"Well jeeze you don't have to sound so surprised."

"No, I just... thanks." Bucky grinned proudly at him and pushed himself off the counter, grabbing his backpack and sifting through it.

"You think your hair can magic us up a pizza? 'Cause otherwise it's gonna be cold beans for dinner... and for breakfast." Steve didn't say anything and he frowned, tossing one of the tins over to him. "Bon appétit."

For a while neither of them said anything, except for when Bucky was telling another of his awful jokes.

"Hey Steve, what do you call someone who points out the obvious?" Steve sighed.

"What?"

"Someone who points out the obvious." Bucky sat there giggling while he just rolled his eyes and exchanged a look with Peg-E. "Oh come on that one was pretty good. I'm not gonna give up 'til you laugh at one."

"Why do you know so many stupid jokes?"

"Eight year old me wanted to be a comedian." He shrugged, leaning back against the couch they were sat on. "My mom would buy me all these joke books and I'd just sit there and memorise them, so now I'm doomed to spend the rest of my life telling terrible jokes to anybody who'll listen."

"So how come you didn't go into it?"

"You haven't laughed at me once all day and you're asking me why I didn't go into a career in comedy? The only person who thinks I'm funny is me." Bucky started picking at a thread on his shirt, avoiding Steve's eyes. "Look if you think I'm about to go telling you my life story you can forget it."

"Well what else do we have to talk about?"

"No."

"Bucky..."

"Why can't Peggy tell us a story? Mine's a bit of a downer." The robot crawled down Steve's arm and up onto Bucky, poking it's leg at his cheek. "Hey whose side are you on, you jumped up piece of metal?"

"My side." Steve smirked and Bucky sighed.

"My dad said it was a stupid career idea, that's why I didn't do it. He also ripped the books up so... I figured it was best not to argue."

"He sounds like a dick."

"Yeah. He left a couple of years after that but I never really picked it up again, got into all that army shit instead. My mom hated that, she spent years trying to convince me that I could do something else but I wouldn't have it. I think she was mostly worried she was gonna lose me as well as dad, but I was too much of a jerk to really think about that." He scooped the robot on his shoulder up and started poking at it, grinning when Peg-E tried to push him away. "Where'd you get this thing?"

"Loki brought it down for me four years ago, after I complained about how I needed someone to talk to."

"It's cute. I want one."

"So you were saying you joined the army?"

"Jesus are you not gonna let it drop? Yeah I did, when I was 20. I was gonna join as soon as I turned 18 but my mom kept finding ways to keep me around for longer, giving me jobs to do around the house and stuff. I must've repainted that hallway at least ten times. Anyway, flash forward 3 years and I was out in Afghanistan. We get a call about some hostages in a building nearby so me and a few other guys go over there. Obviously that turned out to be bullshit, as soon as we go in the whole place went up. As far as I know I was the only one who survived... well, this half of me anyway." He gestured to his left shoulder where his metal arm started and Steve nodded, not saying anything. "I got buried under a fuckload of rubble and, I guess, presumed dead. Don't know how long I was there for, maybe a couple of days? But the next thing I knew I was in some lab with all these people crowded 'round me, and a piece of metal  where my arm used to be. Then this one guy, Pierce, says he wants me to work for them as an agent. I told him to go fuck himself, and he says right now I'm officially dead, and unless I do as he says everyone I know will be too. So for the last 7 years I've been working for him." Bucky looked over at Steve and nudged at his shoulder. "Hey, I told you it was a downer. You should see my grave though, it's real pretty. Apparently my mom goes there a lot, but then I only have Pierce's word for that and he's an asshole."

"I'm sorry." Steve mumbled, looking down at his hands. "So... what'll happen to you when they find out you ran off?"

Bucky shrugged. "I don't know. Although a couple of years ago there was this agent, I can't remember his name, but he was dead set on getting out. One day he made a run for it, I don't think he even made it out the front door before they caught him. But then the next time we saw him he didn't remember ever trying to escape, he was completely different, turned into their number one agent and insisted he'd always been loyal to the organisation. So I guess maybe I'll get a dose of that?"

"If I'd known I wouldn't have..."

"Don't go all soppy on me, Stevie. I could've gotten away from you the second you let me out of those handcuffs. The fact that I'm here right now doesn't have anything to do with you... well, I mean I probably wouldn't have chosen this as a place to spend the night if I'd been on my own, but you know what I mean."

"You could've gone to see your mom."

"She thinks I've been dead for seven years, Steve. The poor woman would have a heart attack if I just turned up on her front door." He smiled weakly and twisted around, lying back on the couch and moving his feet into Steve's lap. "Have I depressed you enough yet?"

"Yeah, I think so."

"You know how I can lighten the mood?"

"Please don't." The grin spread across Bucky's face and Steve gave him a warning glare, which got completely ignored.

"What did one ocean say to the other? Nothing, they..." Bucky collapsed in a fit of giggles and it took him a few more moments to get the rest of the sentence out. "They... they just waved."

"That is your worst one yet."

"You have no sense of humour you know that? Okay this one's good. What are a ninja's favourite sneakers... no wait... fuck, I mean shoes... sneakers is the punch line. Fuck." Bucky put his head in his hands and Steve cracked up, leaning back against the couch laughing while Bucky scowled at him. "Are you kidding me? All I had to do to make you laugh was fuck up a joke?" Steve opened his mouth to respond but instead just started laughing harder, it took him a few minutes to get any words out.

"Maybe there's a future in comedy for you after all." He managed to say, wiping the tears away from his eyes.

"You're a huge dick and I'm not talking to you anymore." Bucky said it grumpily but Steve could see his shoulders shaking where he was trying not to laugh. Had he always been that cute? Steve didn't realise he was staring until Bucky prodded him with his foot. "You alright?"

"Yeah, I just... we should get some sleep." Bucky nodded and rolled over.

"I'm claiming the couch." He mumbled.

"Who says chivalry is dead?"

"Hey, if I'm a princess then that makes you my prince. And a true prince would sacrifice himself and sleep on the floor so this princess doesn't put his back out." Steve rolled his eyes and got up off the couch, leaving Bucky to wriggle around and try to get comfortable.

He was just starting to drift off, propped up against the wall, when he saw a flash of green through the window and his heart stopped. Bucky was snoring on the couch so Steve picked himself up and crept out the door.

"Honestly, pet, I don't see how staying here is any better than where I was keeping you." Loki's voice made him shudder and he turned to face him.

"How did you find me?"

"It was relatively easy given the trail of destruction you and your new friend left behind. Now why don't you come back with me and we can forget any of this ever..."

"No." Loki took a step forward and laughed darkly, shaking his head.

"No? You're choosing an assassin over me?" Steve didn't say anything and Loki sighed. "Steve, he's only following you so he can get to this." He lifted up the case Steve had hidden from Bucky earlier that day.

"Where did you get that?"

"You didn't do a good job of hiding it."

"He doesn't care about that."

"Really? Shall we ask him." Steve stepped to the side, standing firmly in front of the door and making Loki laugh. "You're protecting him now? Honestly, Steve your naivety is astounding. I don't care about him anyway, I'm here for you."

"Me?"

"Do you have any idea how powerful this thing is? Come with me, and I can show you. You'll never have to be afraid of going out into the open again."

"No." Loki let out an exasperated sigh.

"Steve, he doesn't care about you. The moment you let him, he'll leave and come for this. I'm giving you one chance to..."

"I'm not coming with you." Steve interrupted, intending for his voice to come out a little more threatening than it had. Loki's face changed to a darker, more menacing expression and he went to take another step forward when they heard Bucky's voice come from inside the shop.

"Stevie?"

"If it turns out he's lying, I won't be here for you." Loki vowed, disappearing in a flash of green. Steve shivered and pushed back through the door, doing his best to smile casually at Bucky, who was sitting up on the couch.

"Look if you're gonna disappear for a few minutes, let me know first. I thought you'd run off... you okay?"

"Yeah I just... needed some air." Steve mumbled as he sat down on the floor in front of the couch and smiled up at Bucky, who just shrugged and lay back down.

"So about your magical healing abilities, do you think I'll start to develop super human strength in my arm now? Because that would be pretty great. I mean this arm's already pretty strong, what with it being metal and all, but I'm right handed, so any time I want to do something that requires a lot of force I have to use my left hand, and it's just really awkward you know?"

"Yeah, I don't think that's gonna happen."

"Shame." Bucky sighed and Steve laid down on the floor, trying to get into some sort of comfortable position. He must have been making more noise than he realised because after a while he heard Bucky mutter. "Hey you know I was joking about the whole princess thing right? I don't mind going on the floor."

"No, it's fine."

"I mean you did save both our lives so I kind of owe it to you to..."

"Bucky it's fine." He didn't require a whole lot of convincing, and after a few minutes Steve could hear his breathing get heavier. He lay on his back staring up at the ceiling when he felt something brush against his hand. At first he thought it was Peg-E but when he looked he saw Bucky had rolled over onto his stomach and was letting his arm hang over the edge of the couch, his hand resting gently in the palm of Steve's.

"Night, Stevie." He murmured into his metal arm.

"Night, Buck."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you Ariel, for fucking up your bad jokes and giving me inspiration.


	5. Once a thief, always a thief

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Bucky and Steve make a new friend on their way into the city, although Sam doesn't seem to happy about their budding friendship. He also learns the hard way that old habits die hard, especially when it comes to metal armed Hydra agents.

Bucky was on the floor when he woke up, and there was a throbbing pain in his shoulder.

"You're a really heavy sleeper." He heard Steve say from behind him as he rolled over, groaning as his shoulder throbbed again. "You rolled off the couch. Would've fallen on top of me if I hadn't woken up 10 seconds earlier. How the hell did you sleep through it?"

"I've slept through worse." Bucky grumbled, pushing himself to his feet and rolling his shoulder.

"You okay?"

"Peachy." He grinned and Steve rolled his eyes, turning his attention back to the cabinet he'd been rifling through. "So, I was thinking we should try and stick to quieter streets if we want to get into the city... Unless there was anything else you wanted to see while you're out?"

"I don't wanna do anything that will bring those lunatics back to us."

"The Avengers? Nah, you don't need to worry about them today. The entire planet could be overthrown by giant robots and it probably wouldn't distract them from perfecting their firework display. They may be assholes but they're also very sentimental about their dead pal. Although to tell you the truth I think a part of everyone's soul died when Captain America did." Steve stared at him blankly. "Come on you must have at least heard of him? America's little golden boy?"

"Nope."

"Jesus. I mean I don't know much about him, I saw him a couple of times in Hydra's records. Pierce hated him but most of the guys had a kind of secret respect for him you know? He certainly made my life easier, the whole fucking country changed when that guy came out as bi. Suddenly I wasn't getting quite so many dirty looks for not being interested in the other guys' playboy magazines..." He looked cautiously over at Steve. It wasn't as if he tried to hide it, he just still got a little nervous openly talking about it, but Steve didn't react so he carried on. "Anyway, a few years ago a whole lot of shit went down in the middle of the city. I've heard different stories from different people. Some say a bunch of aliens came down to try and overthrow the planet, one guy told me it was an 'act of god' or something, it all sounds like a load of bullshit but something must've happened. All I know is the dear old Captain got blasted with that cube I stole yesterday, and his body was never found... presumed disintegrated."

"Ouch."

"Yeah, not a great way to go. But the 4th of July also happens to be his birthday, which is horribly ironic, so Tony Stark... that metal guy from before... organises this huge party throughout the day as a tribute to him, ending with the fireworks. We should be able to stay out of sight pretty easily." Bucky waited for some kind of response from Steve but didn't get one, he looked to be deep in thought about something. "You alright, Stevie?"

"Yeah, I was just... I was just wondering where you were gonna go afterwards. I mean you can't go back to your boss now right? So what are you gonna do?" Bucky shrugged. He'd been trying his best to avoid thinking about it because he knew there was no way out. Either he got the cube back and went to Pierce, who would likely kill him for running off, or wipe his brain so he forgot all of this, or he could take off and try to get away, always knowing that Hydra would be trying to hunt him down and stop him from jeopardising their entire organisation with his big mouth.

"Well... maybe you should start thinking of some other stuff you wanna do. We could make quite a pair, people will write books about us. _The adventures of Bucky and Blondie; featuring Peggy the robo-spider._ " He grinned and Steve chuckled, shaking his head. "Come on, we best get going or we'll miss all the fun."

Fortunately for all the event planners, it was a beautiful day. Bucky had heard stories about the one year it had rained, but Stark had insisted the event go ahead anyway, so for the entire day people stood outside in the rain trying to pretend they were enjoying themselves. As they made their way down an empty street he was just starting to feel the closest he ever had to carefree when he saw him. Falcon was looking through one of the shop windows. He was dressed casually in a green shirt and jeans, but it was definitely him and, shit, he'd seen them.

"Fuck, fuck, fuck. Steve we need to get out of here." Steve started to say something but Bucky didn't have time to listen, before he knew what was happening, Falcon had him pinned to the ground with his hand around his throat.

"Man you just don't know when to die, do you?" The man on top of him said through gritted teeth, increasing the pressure on Bucky's throat.

"Maybe... maybe God just... loves me." He managed to choke out, making the other man laugh and shake his head in disbelief.

"Right. Well this time I'm not leaving until I've seen the life leave your..." Bucky felt the hand leave his throat and he looked around to see Steve holding the man up by his shirt, pinning him to a wall. Damn.

"Look, pal, I've been waiting my whole life to see these fireworks, and I need him to take me. So I need you to not get him killed today."

"Yeah well you can forget it." Steve slammed the man against the wall harder and glared at him. "Do you realise the stuff this guy has done? You can't expect me to just..."

"Just for today. Tomorrow you can both go back to trying to blow each other up."

"Uh, I'd actually prefer not to be blown up." Bucky added, peering around Steve's shoulder to look at them. Falcon stared at them both in disbelief.

"This is fucking ridiculous."

"C'mon, bird boy, you gonna crush this guy's dream?"

"It's also my birthday."

"And it's his birthday! What kind of cold hearted man are you to ruin his big day?" Bucky shook his head in mock disgust and Falcon sighed in defeat.

"Alright fine. Just for today."

"So you do have dreams, birdie!"

"For your information, I always wanted to be a pianist. And if you call me that again I'll break your face. It's Sam." He muttered as Steve set him back down on his feet.

"I'm Steve... that's Bucky."

"Well I'm gonna need both of you to stay about ten feet away from me so people don't think I'm actually associating myself with you." Sam sighed and started walking up the street, muttering to himself as Steve and Bucky followed, a little less than ten feet behind.

"Hey." Bucky said, nudging Steve on the shoulder as they walked. "You never told me it was your birthday." Steve just shrugged.

"It's not important."

"Like hell it isn't. We need to get you a cake." He grinned and Steve just laughed and shook his head.

Bucky hadn't realised quite how far he'd run yesterday, but it took them a good hour and a half to get back to the centre of the city. There were huge crowds of people everywhere and stalls set up along the road, most of them selling ridiculous memorabilia with the American flag printed on it. He felt Steve press a little closer and looked over to see him glancing around nervously at everyone, jumping slightly when Bucky  wrapped his metal hand around his wrist.

"We can go somewhere less crowded if you want?"

"No, I'm okay. I've just never been in a crowd this big."

"Yeah well anybody get's too close and I'll punch their lights out. Try imagining everyone in their underwear. No one looks scary with their junk barely covered."

"That's gross." Steve muttered and Bucky laughed, keeping hold of his wrist and guiding him along the street with Sam just ahead of them. It didn't take long for Steve to adjust to the crowds and soon he was going off and starting conversations with people, despite Bucky's desperate attempts to keep them from getting noticed. Eventually he gave up and ended up leaning against one of the stands, watching as Steve started joining in with some of the kids who were making chalk drawings along the road.

"Where the hell did you find this guy?" Sam asked from next to him and he shrugged.

"It's a long story. Can you keep an eye on him for a sec? I need to get some things." He said, raising his hands defensively when Sam narrowed his eyes. "What do you think I'm gonna do? Break into the base of _another_ band of superheroes and steal their magical items?" Sam rolled his eyes and waved his hand, gesturing for Bucky to go, so he turned on his heel and headed back down the street.  
He dived in and out of a few shops, grabbing supplied, and then started to look for a good place to get some fireworks. There were about a dozen different firework stands along the road, but he headed for the one with the least amount of people around it. There was no way he was going to chance taking Steve right up to Stark Tower for the Avengers' display, but he should at least get to see a couple of them up close. He bought a few of the smaller ones, along with a tacky flag for Steve to take back, trying not to lock eyes with the guy running the stand, and headed back.  
Steve seemed to have inadvertently gotten himself mixed up in the middle of a flash mob when he got back, while Sam was keeping as far away as possible to avoid getting dragged in. He walked over to him and folded his arms.

"I turn my back for one minute."

"You said keep an eye on him, not stop him breaking out into spontaneous dance. Besides, he seems to be enjoying himself. Where did you go?"

"I told you, I was getting some stuff."

"Getting or stealing?"

"You have such little faith in me. I paid for the stuff. Oh, and here's your wallet back." He tossed Sam the wallet he'd managed to swipe from his pocket earlier and grinned.

"That counts as stealing."

"But it's an improvement, right?" Sam just sighed and shook his head as Bucky laughed.

"This is great!" They both turned as Steve staggered back towards them, looking exhausted. "Is it like this all the time?"

"I wouldn't know, but I got you a flag." Bucky wedged the stick into the collar of Steve's shirt and grinned. "You look very patriotic."

"You're an idiot."

"I'm glad you like it."

"So when's the honeymoon?" Sam muttered and Bucky whacked him in the chest with more force than he intended to, laughing awkwardly and glancing around.

"We should get moving, everyone's starting to head to the tower."

"I should probably head off then, before my super pals come looking for me... have a good one, Steve!" Sam called as he started walking briskly down the road, disappearing into the crowd.  
Bucky and Steve followed the rest of the crowd for a while before Bucky grabbed Steve's hand and led him off the street and along an alleyway.

"What are you doing? Everyone's going that way."

"They're just sheep, me and you are gonna have the best seats in the house. Now c'mon." He kept his grip on Steve's hand as they moved through the alleyways, pretending that he knew where he was going. Eventually he found a suitable looking building with stairs leading up on to the roof, and starting leading the way up them.  
He couldn't hide his relief that the roof of the building actually did provide a great view, they were close enough to see the tower and the crowd of people who were starting to gather around it, but far away enough that nobody would notice them.

"If you want to get right down into the centre you can, but if I go any further I may as well just sign a death certificate."

"No, this is perfect. I'm not just gonna leave you here anyways."

"Stevie, you're making me swoon." Bucky grinned, leaning backwards into him as if he were about to pass out. For a horrible moment he thought Steve was just going to let him fall and his life started flashing before his eyes, but then he felt an arm wrap about his waist to keep him upright and he breathed a sigh of relief. Steve left his arm there as they sat down and Bucky tried to ignore the way it was making his heart rate spike, focusing instead on the growing crowd in the streets below them and silently praying that this year would be Stark's best fireworks display yet.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> For anyone who gives a shit, Peg-E hasn't been left behind it's just chilling in Steve's pocket. I figured a glowing robot spider might be a bit of an eye catcher.


	6. Ruining the moment

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It is written in the stars that Bucky just isn't meant to have a simple life, and just when things start to look like they might go his way, everything turns against him.

"So what are they like?" Bucky looked over at Steve, who was trying to untangle a bit of cotton that had wrapped around Peg-E's leg while it had been in his pocket. "The fireworks I mean."

"You know I don't get holiday leave working for Hydra right? Only time I've seen them is when we had to kill a guy who was in the crowd, and even then we didn't exactly stick around for the end of the show."

"Did you kill him?"

"Hell no, I was carrying everyone's guns." Steve didn't say anything and Bucky frowned. "Hydra don't trust me enough for missions like that. I'm more of an intern than an assassin."

"Good... you seem too nice to have done something like that."

"I think that's a compliment?" He grinned, nudging at Steve's shoulder and trying to think of a way to lighten the mood. "They'll be great anyway, and if they're not I will personally punch Tony Stark in the face." Steve laughed and set Peg-E down on the ground, letting it wander along the edge of the building. "Oh I have something for you." Bucky sifted through his backpack and pulled out the slightly crumpled box of cupcakes.

"You're ridiculous."

"I told you I'd get you a cake, and I figured these would be easier to carry."

"You just wanted an excuse to eat them."

"You are incredibly ungrateful, Steve. Just for that I will not sing you happy birthday." Steve laughed and slid his arm back around Bucky's waist.

"My heart is breaking. Thanks though, can't remember the last time I had a birthday cake." Bucky smiled and leant in to Steve a little as he opened the box.

"Well you best remember quickly, 'cause cupcakes this good could kill you if you're unprepared." Steve opened his mouth to say something when the voice of Tony Stark started echoing for miles around, giving some heartfelt speech about how they should all be enjoying themselves, but also remembering their 'lost avenger'.

"He really knows how to kill a party, huh?"

"Hey, the loss of an ass as perfectly sculpted as his was an international tragedy, so have some respect."

"A man dies and all you can think about is his ass? Imagine if he could hear you right now."

"Stevie if he was here right now I would not be talking at all I can assure you."

"What?"

"My mouth would be otherwise occupied."

"Jesus Christ, Bucky." Steve shook his head and Bucky cracked up laughing, pressing his face into Steve's side to stop himself making too much noise. "You're unbelievable."

"You love it." He managed to say, falling silent as he locked eyes with Steve for a moment. They both stared at each other and Bucky tried to say something, but all that came out of his mouth was a weird squeaky noise that made him look away and put his head in his hands. He could hear Steve chuckling to himself and he elbowed him in the ribs.

"Oh I'm sorry, did I fluster you?"

"Asshole." Bucky muttered. He peered out from behind his hands and saw Steve grinning at him, which just made the blush on his face get stronger. He wanted to try and think of something else to say when the voice that had been droning on around them announced.

"Now, as much as I'm sure you all want to hear some more stories from my excitement filled life, we do have a schedule to keep to. So let's get this show on the road." There was a loud cheer from the people crowding the streets and Bucky rolled his eyes, sitting back up again.

"He's such a cocky asshole, I never understood why the girls are always throwing their underwear at him, I mean..." He was cut off by Steve putting his hand over his mouth and shushing him. Bucky pushed the hand away from his mouth and moved it back around his waist, Steve didn't seem to be paying any attention to him though and was just staring at the tower in anticipation.  
Despite his differences with the Avengers, they did put on a hell of a show, and soon the sky was lit up with more colours than he could count. Bucky wanted to watch, but he couldn't tear himself away from watching Steve's face light up as each firework went off. He curled his knees up to his chest and leant his head on them, not taking his eyes away from Steve for a second. He'd already signed his death certificate by running off from Hydra, so if he wanted to spend his last night among the living staring at cute guys, he was damn well going to.  
About half an hour in, other people's fireworks started going off around the city, reminding Bucky about the ones he'd bought earlier... well, the ones Sam had bought.

"Hey, Stevie, want to do something really dangerous and possibly illegal?"

"Is that just your motto in life?"

"It is now." He grinned and pulled the fireworks out of his bag, laughing at Steve's horrified face.

"We can't set those off up here."

"Sure we can, c'mon it'll be fun." Steve frowned at him but didn't protest anymore as Bucky pushed himself to his feet, holding out his metal hand to pull him up.

"Are you sure this is safe?"

"Nope."

"Are there people living in this building?"

"Quite possibly."

"Okay let's do it." He grinned and Bucky practically squealed in excitement, bouncing over to one corner of the roof to find a good place to stand the rockets.

"There should be a lighter in that bag." He said, turning back to Steve, who rifled through the bag and tossing the lighter over to him. Bucky's metal arm shot up at lightning speed to grab it, which seemed to take Steve by surprise a bit. He lit the fireworks and took off back to Steve, tugging him away from them until they were standing at the other end of the building.  
The fireworks were pretty tiny, but they were a hell of a lot closer than the one's being set off from Stark Tower and Steve seemed just as excited by them, wrapping both his arms around Bucky's waist and pulling him closer so his back was pressed against Steve's chest. For a brief moment Bucky tensed up at being grabbed like that, in the circumstances he was used to this would be shortly followed by someone holding a knife to his throat or a gun to his head, but instead he felt Steve rest his head on his shoulder and he relaxed again, leaning his head against Steve's and sighing. He moved his arm around so he could stroke Steve's hair, pausing when he felt a hard bump in the skin on the back of his neck. He traced around it with his finger a few times and was about to ask about it when Steve spoke.

"You remember what you said before, about us taking off together?"

"Yeah?"

"Did you mean it?" Bucky looked at him and sighed.

"Steve..."

"I mean, I get it if you didn't, it's fine. I just..."

"Yeah, I meant it. But I also have an underground government organisation _and_ a band of crazed super humans who want me dead, I don't wanna drag you into that." Steve frowned at him. "Don't give me that puppy dog look, Stevie. You can go, switch states, start a whole new life. In a couple of weeks you'll have forgotten all about me."

"I've spent my whole life locked up in the building and you got me out, you really think I'm just gonna forget about you?"

"You can chose to forget things."

"And what if I don't want to?" Steve started nuzzling at Bucky's neck, sending a shiver up his spine and he struggled to get his words out.

"That would... that might change things." He stammered, chewing on his lip when Steve laughed into the crook of his neck.

"You're very easily persuaded." Steve murmured and Bucky hummed in response. He had about 30 snide remarks in his head, but he couldn't get any of them out. For once his big mouth had nothing to say. Steve lifted his head back up and Bucky turned to face him, draping his arms over Steve's shoulders and stretching up to press their foreheads together.

"You're missing your fireworks, Stevie." He said, just vaguely aware of the crackling noises above them, and the coloured lights reflecting in Steve's eyes.

"Doesn't matter." Steve mumbled, leaning in so their lips were just a fraction apart and smirking. Bucky huffed in frustration and was about to close the distance when he noticed the faint red light gradually making its way up Steve's cheek, stopping just above his ear. Steve brushed their lips together lightly, trying to coax Bucky on, but he turned his head, frantically searching for the sniper. Then he saw them. Two shadowy figures on the roof of the opposite building, one was holding the gun, ready to fire at Steve's head. "Buck?" He turned back to Steve and swallowed hard, his heart pounding in his chest.

"Uh... I have to... we have to... there's something I just need to get, c'mon." He nudged Steve back towards the stairs that led to the ground before turning back to the two figures and nodding.  
Once they were back on the ground he made sure the area behind the building was sheltered before turning back to Steve and squeezing his shoulders.

"Wait here, I'll be right back." He turned and walked a few steps before looking over his shoulder and adding. "Just, whatever you do, don't follow me. 'Kay?"

"Okay." Steve said, smiling at him. Bucky pulled the best grin he could and headed around the corner, crossing the street and taking the steps up to the opposite building two at a time.  
Once he reached the two the two men were waiting for him. He recognised one of them instantly and threw his arms up, grinning.

"Rummy!" He yelled, not breaking character even after Rumlow walked up to him and punched him in the face.

"Don't fucking call me that, Barnes." He hissed, grabbing Bucky by the shirt collar and pinning him to the floor. "I should just kill you right now, you son of a bitch."

"I missed you too, buddy." Bucky grinned, earning himself another punch in the face. "Alright, alright. Look I know where the cube is, so just let me go, I'll bring it to you, and then we can part ways as unlikely friends."

"You think I'm a fucking idiot? We already have the cube, now we just need him."

"Wait... what?"

"Cube's broken. Your little golden boy has the missing piece, so we're gonna cut him open." Rumlow purred, pulling out a knife and grazing it along Bucky's neck. "And pull it out of him." At that point Bucky rediscovered his strength and he wrenched his metal arm free, flipping them over and locking his hands around Rumlow's neck.

"Touch him and I'll kill you." He growled.

"Yeah? Prove it." Rumlow smirked at him, not even flinching when Bucky tightened his grip on his throat. "When was the last time you killed someone, Barnes? You sure as hell haven't as long as you've been working for us. Why is that? You've had plenty of opportunities to. Hell, you've almost sabotaged at least two of my missions because you didn't pull that trigger." Bucky slammed Rumlow's head against the concrete, not taking his hands off his throat. He was about to say something when he felt the barrel of a gun against the back of his head.

"Get up." The voice was barely legible through the sniper's mask. Begrudgingly, Bucky took his hands away from Rumlow's throat and pushed himself to his feet, turning to face the man. He gestured to the steps and Bucky started walking back down them, the sniper's gun never moving from the back of his head. They bundled him into a black SUV, cuffing his hands behind his back and gagging him. Bucky was pretty sure they only reason for the gag was that Rumlow hated the sound of his voice. The mystery sniper climbed into the front seat and started driving them god-knows-where.

"You know, I'm really gonna enjoy watching Pierce kill you, Barnes. I don't know if you were aware, but I _really_ don't like you. Maybe if I'm lucky, he'll let me do it." Bucky didn't look at him, focusing instead on a way of getting out. Why the hell did they have to drag Steve into it? Could nothing in his fucked up life just be simple?  
After a few minutes Rumlow seemed to lose interest in him and stopped talking, turning to gaze out of the window instead. Bucky seized the opportunity and swung his legs around, kicking Rumlow's head into the glass. He couldn't get a good look at the damage he'd done, but there was blood on the glass and Rumlow wasn't moving so he turned his attention to getting the hell out of the car, which must have swerved straight into the crowds because he could hear screaming outside. He managed to kick open the door nearest to him and roll out into the crowd, unsure of which way to go.  
He didn't get far through the crowd before the sniper caught up to him, grabbing him by the shoulder and throwing him to the ground, aiming a gun directly at his forehead.

"Pretty sure you have orders to keep me alive 'til we get back to Pierce, right?"

"Fuck Pierce." The man said through his mask. Bucky could see his finger closing on the trigger when he suddenly froze, dropping the gun to the floor.

"Hey look, Christmas came early." He heard a familiar voice say. Cautiously he looked up and saw Tony Stark staring down at him in his iron man suit, with the rest of the Avengers crowded around behind him. Oh. Shit.

* * *

It was cold in the shadow of the building Steve was pressed against and he shivered, wrapping his arms around himself and listening out for any sound of Bucky returning. Peg-E, who was perched on his shoulder, flashed it's light at him and buzzed.

"He's coming back, Peg." The robot flashed it's light again and he frowned. "He told us not to follow him." He said stubbornly, sighing and listening to the sounds of more fireworks going off behind the building.  
A few more minutes passed and he was just starting to worry when he heard the sound of footsteps coming around the corner.

"You know, for a second I thought you'd run off and left me." He grinned, pushing himself away from the wall.

"Steve?" His smile disappeared instantly. He knew the voice, but it wasn't Bucky's. Hesitantly, he turned the corner and saw the raven haired man leaning against the wall and breathing heavily.

"Loki?" He said, taking a cautious step forward. Loki looked up and smiled at him, despite his bruised and bloody face.

"Oh thank god you're alright. They haven't found you yet." Loki said, stretching a hand out to cup Steve's face.

"I... what happened?"

"I thought something might happen to you, so I followed you here. Then when I saw that agent leave you I got worried and went after him."

"Where is he?"

"Long gone, I barely got away from him and the others." Steve froze, his eyes trailing over the bruises on Loki's face.

"He... Bucky did that to you?"

"It's nothing you can't fix, darling." Loki murmured, moving his hand up into Steve's hair. Steve nodded and looked down at the ground, trying to focus. He could have just been imagining it, or it could have been the fireworks that were still lighting up the sky, but he swore he saw a flash of green reflecting on the ground instead of the usual blue of his hair. "We need to get you out of here, Steve. Before they come back." Steve didn't say anything, not taking his eyes off the ground. He felt Loki move his hand down to his chin and lifted his head up to look at him. "I tried to warn you about him, Steve, I really did."

"I know, I just... I didn't think he..." He trailed off and looked back down at the ground, letting Loki wrap his arms around him and leaning his head on his shoulder. "I should have listened to you. I'm sorry."

"We need to go." Loki said softly and Steve nodded. "Somewhere they'll never be able to find us."


	7. I need a hero

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A lot of shit is kicking off. Bucky has made a new friend, and Steve needs a dashing young prince to rescue him.

Bucky stared around the plain grey room and sighed.

"Look, you have to listen to me..." He was cut off by another sharp slap across his cheek, and when he opened his eyes again redhead was smirking at him.

"Yeah, I get it. Your mystery friend is gonna get killed if we don't let you go. You told me twice already. Now I'm going to ask you again, where is the cube?"

"I. Don't. Know."

"Who are you working for?"

"Nobody. I think sending men out to kill me was their way of firing me." She slapped him again.

"Who _did_ you work for?"

"Hydra. And I'd really appreciate it if you took 'em out, you know, so they can stop trying to kill me."

"Hydra is a dead organisation. Captain Rogers killed their leader 70 years ago." She said it sharply but he could see the glimmer of doubt in her eyes and he shrugged.

"You gettin' anywhere with him?" They both looked over to see Hawkeye walk into the room, with Sam trailing behind.

"At this point I'm tempted to just shoot him and get it over with."

"Hey, I'm right here you know." They all ignored him and Sam sighed.

"Well the other guy was no good, chewed on a cyanide pill before I could so much as open my mouth." Redhead frowned and folded her arms.

"Has Bruce made any progress trying to track the cube? We need to find it before the likes of Loki gets hold of it again." Bucky's ears pricked at that. He'd heard that name, why did he know that name? Steve had mentioned him.

"Uh... what was that about Loki?"

"Shut up."

"You want me to help you or not?" They all turned around to face him, looking unconvinced. Eventually it was Hawkeye who answered him.

"Five years ago he tried to use the Tesseract to take over the planet, we almost captured him but Steve... Captain America's death kinda... distracted us. He got away and we never found him."

"Five years ago?"

"This is ridiculous, it has nothing to do with you." Redhead said sharply, turning back to the other two. Bucky didn't even hear her, all he could hear was what Steve had said to him the other night. _Five years ago I ran off, and then the next thing I knew I was back in that building. Loki told me I was attacked and he only just saved me in time._ Shit. Shit, shit, shit. He was such an idiot. Suddenly it made sense why Steve had looked so familiar the first time he'd seen him. It was the same face he'd seen all over Hydra's records, the same face he'd briefly glimpsed on TV screens and magazine covers, and that meant... oh Jesus Christ.

"I talked about giving a blowjob to Captain America.. in front of Captain America." They all whipped their heads around and stared at him in disgust.

"What the fuck is wrong with you!?"

"He's not dead." He almost whispered, not even flinching when Redhead slapped him harder than she had before. "No, no you need to help him! Loki's gonna kill him if we don't find him! Sam! Sam you saw him, you saw Steve!" Sam just shook his head and shoved his hands in his pockets, avoiding the cold, questioning stares the other two Avengers were giving him.

"I only joined you guys two years ago, I've never met Rogers in person."

"I don't have time for this." Redhead grumbled, marching out of the room and dragging Hawkeye with her. Sam stared at Bucky for a few minutes before shaking his head and walking out, locking the door behind him and leaving Bucky kicking and screaming at him to listen.

* * *

Steve had seen a lot in the past two days, but none of it came close to the place Loki had taken him to now.

"Welcome to Asgard." He had smiled when they arrived, and Steve had been lost for words.  
He hadn't gotten any sleep last night. Instead he had sat and stared out of the window of Loki's tower, watching all the different creatures and people in magnificent, brightly coloured outfits moving around below him. Peg-E had been trying to get his attention the whole night, but he couldn't bring himself to talk, not even to mechanical spiders. The only person he really wanted to talk to was Bucky, but he had gone back to his boss. Which was what he would have done anyway, his agreement was to take Steve to see the fireworks and then take the cube back to Hydra, so really it was stupid for him to be feeling so upset about it. He heard footsteps coming up the steps and turned around to see Loki standing a few feet behind him, sighing at Steve's pathetic attempt at a smile.

"You're not really still upset are you? Honestly you are unbelievably naive. There's no use moping around, Barnes will be dead by now anyway."

"What?"

"You think Hydra will allow him to live after everything he did? I mean cutting out his microchip alone will have earned him a death sentence, and then he just went and added to it by..."

"How do you... I never told you he cut out his microchip, or who he worked for. How do you even know his last name?" Loki frowned at him and took a step closer but Steve just backed away two steps. His head starting to spin as he realised what an idiot he'd been. "It was you, you weren't following us to protect me, you were leading Hydra to him so you could get me back."

"Steve do you even hear how ridiculous you sound?"

"He never attacked you, he was trying to..."

"He's dead! Because of you!" Loki snapped, taking another step forward. This time Steve didn't back away, he was frozen in place with a sick feeling in his stomach. Loki was close enough to him now do drag an icy finger across his cheek, smirking at him as he did so. "I warned you about running off again. Try to get away from me, and people will die." Steve slapped his hand away.

"What about now? There's nobody left I care about." Loki laughed at him.

"What? Are you going to try fighting me now?"

"I'll never stop."

"Well I suppose it's a good thing I don't need you alive anymore." Before Steve could react Loki was jamming a needle into his neck and everything started to go hazy. "Sleep well, Captain."

* * *

The door flew open and Sam ran in, immediately going to unlock Bucky's restraints.

"Took a look at Captain Rogers' records." He said, pulling Bucky to his feet.

"And?"

"It's him."

"Fuck."

"My thoughts exactly, now..."

"So you're saying Captain America tried to kiss me? Captain fucking America?"

"Clearly he has terrible taste in dudes. Are you fit for mission?"

"I rejected Captain fucking America." Sam grabbed him by the shoulders and shook him.

"Dammit, man, will you focus." Bucky took a couple of deep breaths and nodded. "Your priorities are fucked up, dude. Now are you coming or not? Banner's got a trace on the Tesseract and..."

"Wait, wait, wait. You're taking me with you?"

"We need all the help we can get. Plus, if he doesn't remember any of the other guys, you'll be the only person he trusts."

"So does this mean I'm an Avenger now?" Bucky grinned and Sam just frowned at him.

"Don't push it." He mumbled, pushing Bucky through the door and they both headed down the corridor. "So I only have one question."

"Only one?"

"Blowjobs?"

"Look it was just a heat of the moment thing I wouldn't have said it if I'd known it was _actually him_ I was talking to and besides..."

"So essentially you offered Steve, the shining example to all of America, a blowjob."

"No! Sort of..." Sam threw his head back laughing and Bucky scowled at him, shaking his head as they walked through a door at the end of the corridor, coming face to face with the rest of the Avengers. "Oh man this is so cool, are we gonna blow something up because I am _so_ down for that."

"Yeah you seem to be down for a lot of things." Sam muttered.

"Look are you saying if you had him in front of you, that you wouldn't do it too?" Just as Sam opened his mouth to protest Bucky put his hand up. "Don't you go lying to me, Sam."

"I certainly wouldn't go saying it to his face."

"Fuck you." Somebody cleared their throat and they both turned around to look at the rest of the group, who were all staring at them impatiently. "Okay I know absolutely nobody here so I feel like we should do some team building activities real quick. I'm Bucky, and my favourite colour is red. Okay, Sam, you're up. "

"What kind of name is Bucky?" Tony interrupted.

"It's a nickname, asshole."

"What the hell name do you get Bucky from?"

"Buchanan..."

"Who the fuck names their child Buchanan!?"

"It's James Buchanan Barnes. Jesus Christ can we please get a move on?"

"The Tesseract is in Asgard. It is likely we will find Steve and my brother there too." Thor said, taking the conversation back. Bucky found it hard to form words with this huge fucking demigod staring at him so he just nodded, trying to pretend he knew what the hell any of that meant.   
They all followed him outside and stood around while he yelled at the sky. Bucky was just starting to question if maybe he wasn't the only insane one in this group when a huge flash of light it them and the next thing he knew they were flying through space. What? What the fuck? Jesus he was tripping balls.  
Somewhere along the way he and Sam ended up clinging to each other for dear life, and it wasn't until they landed inside what looked like a huge golden globe that they exchanged a look and awkwardly let go again.

"What the fuck was that? I did not sign up for space travel. Nobody mentioned space travel. Nobody... I... I want a lawyer... and a stiff drink."

"Man, it's a good thing I don't get motion sickness." Sam added as they both staggered after the rest of the group, who seemed to be having no trouble with the whole space travel thing. "Is it just me or are these guys way too comfortable with what just happened?"

"You just read my mind." Bucky grinned.

"Is this a rainbow bridge? Seriously?"

"And I thought I was gay."

"Feel like I'm in a fucking Mario game." Sam muttered as they headed along the bridge, making Bucky chuckle.

"You got any idea where Loki will be?" He heard Tony say when they finally managed to catch up. Thor shook his head and Bucky glanced around.

"I mean, that tower looks pretty out of reach."

"That is my father's tower, nobody is permitted to enter it."

"Wouldn't that make it the perfect hiding place?" They all turned to look at him and he shrugged. "Just saying."   
Nobody actually acknowledged that he was right, but they did all start heading in that direction and soon they were circling the bottom of the tower. Before any of them could do anything else they heard the sound of marching behind them, and turned to see a huge army of men in armour coming towards them.

"Those are my father's guards." Thor murmured, taking a step forward towards them.

"My prince, the king orders you and all your acquaintances to leave immediately."

"No, you do not understand. My brother is here somewhere and we must stop him before..."

"If met with any resistance, the king orders that we... force you to leave." Thor nodded and grinned.

"Then force us." With that, the guards started charging towards them, armed heavily with shields and spears. Bucky heard a noise and turned to see the small man he'd been standing next to growing larger and... greener. How much more could this day possibly throw at him? Once the hulk was fully transformed he shot a look at Bucky, before tearing off through the guards, throwing them aside like they weighed nothing.  
Bucky narrowly avoided being impaled by one of the guard's spears, darting to the side and smashing the man's head against the side of the tower, knocking him unconscious. He saw Sam being pinned to a wall by another guard and pulled him away, tossing him into the path of the hulk.

"Thanks, man."

"I'm starting to regret not asking for a gun."

"Yeah you and me both. Behind you!" Bucky spun around and smashed the guard in the face with his metal fist, knocking him to the ground. "I think we got this. You should go look for Steve, I think the stairs are 'round the other side."

"Stairs are too obvious, give me a leg-up." He said, looking up at the tower and trying to plan a route up. Sam nodded and held his hands out for Bucky to stand on, and pushing him up so he could get a good start on climbing up the wall. "If I fall to my death, know that you're not as much of an asshole as I originally thought."

"Right back at you, be careful."

"Careful isn't in my nature." Bucky grunted, hooking his hands onto anything he could and slowly scrambling up.   
His arms were just on the verge of giving up on him when he finally managed to grab hold of the window ledge, pulling himself up and crawling inside. He heard a faint groaning noise and turned around to see Steve strapped down to a table. It looked like he was just waking up and Bucky ran over to him, pushing some of the hair out of his face.

"Rise and shine, Stevie." He whispered, squeezing his shoulder and trying to wake him up. Steve opened his eyes and stared at him like he'd seen a ghost.

"Bucky?"

"Were you expecting Santa Claus?"

"You're alive?"

"Course I am. Now c'mon, let's get you out of here." He grinned, fumbling at one of the straps on Steve's wrist. He'd almost got it undone when suddenly Steve yelled at him.

"Look out!" He spun around saw a tall, dark haired man dressed in, frankly ridiculous looking, armour. His arm was raised, ready to stab him with the knife in his hand, but Bucky managed to kick him in the chest and send him stumbling back a few steps.

"I think your brother's looking for you, pal." Bucky muttered, feeling even more regretful about not having any form of weapon on him.

"You should be dead." Loki spat.

"If I've learnt anything from the past three days, it's that I'm hard to kill."

"Oh really? Shall we test that?" He smirked, disappearing in front of Bucky's eyes, and then reappearing next to him.

"Are you fucking kidding me? I have been to fucking space, seen a man turn into a huge green monster, and now this shit. Really? Steve does this shit happen to you a lot because I'm relatively new to... ooh shit." He ducked out of the way of Loki's knife and elbowed him in the face. Loki grabbed hold of his arm and wrestled him to the ground, going to stab Bucky in the throat but missing as he rolled out of the way and kicked the back of his shins. The impact made Loki drop to his knees and Bucky grabbed the opportunity, jumping up and running back over to Steve, finally managing to undo the strap on his left wrist.

"Get yourself out of here, Steve." He muttered, turning back to Loki and leaving Steve to get the rest of his restraints undone. Loki growled at him and charged forward, slamming Bucky against the wall so hard it forced the breath out of his lungs.

"It's too late. I'm going to slice into him and find my missing piece, and then there will be nothing any of you can do to stop me." He hissed in Bucky's face.

"Oh man, you really shouldn't have said that." Bucky grinned, finding a new strength in his arms and grabbing at Loki's shoulders, pushing him back and shoving him up against the edge of the window. "The whole Avengers fleet is down there, maybe you should have some fun with..." He was cut off by a sudden sharp pain in his stomach, and saw that Loki had managed to get his hand up enough to shove the knife deep into his gut. Loki pulled the knife out and dropped it to the ground, smirked at him.

"Have fun with that."

"You son of a bitch." Bucky choked out, shoving Loki over the ledge with as much force as he could muster. He could faintly hear Tony's sarcastic voice from the ground.

"Oh hey, we were just talking about you, you bastard."

Bucky bent down and picked up Loki's knife, grunting with pain as he did, and staggered back over to Steve.

* * *

It was harder to undo the restraints than Bucky had made it seem, especially when Steve could only use his left hand to do it. So he still hadn't made any progress with them when he saw Bucky push Loki off the ledge.

"Nice finish... Jesus Christ, Bucky!" Steve's stomach twisted as Bucky turned around and he saw the amount of blood staining his shirt.

"Don't worry about it, Stevie." Bucky mumbled as he staggered over and used Loki's knife to cut the straps holding Steve's right hand and ankles down. "You gotta... you gotta get outta here, Steve. Before he comes back." He said, hooking his arm around Steve's neck and helping him to get up.

"You need a doctor."

"It's nothing."

"Bullshit, Bucky, you're bleeding out."

"You want me to be blunt with you? There's no way in fucking hell you're gonna get me anywhere before I lose too much blood." He said sharply and Steve shook his head.

"I can still heal you."

"Don't you dare, c'mere and let me get that thing out of you." Bucky put both hands behind Steve's head and he suddenly felt a sharp sting as Bucky cut into the lump on the back of his neck that had been there for as long as he could remember. He felt him pull something out and when Bucky lifted his hand up he saw he was holding what looked like a piece of bright blue glass. "Magic hair my ass." Bucky smirked, crushing the fragment in his hand. "They don't need you anymore, Stevie. Nobody's gonna hurt you."

"You stupid fucker, I could have healed you first."

"And provide a window of opportunity for someone to jump you and try and slice your stomach open, no thank you."

"You're an idiot."

"Those gonna be your last words to me?" Bucky grinned, leaning his head on Steve's shoulder and groaning. Steve could feel him getting heavier as he started struggling to stand and sat them both down, shifting so Bucky could rest his head on his chest. "My stomach hurts."

"Just hang on, you're gonna be fine."

"You and I have very different definitions of fine." Bucky started coughing and wiped his mouth with his hand. "Hey check it out, I'm coughing up blood. This is just like the movies."

"Are you capable of taking _anything_ seriously?"

"Come on though you have to appreciate the situation. Two guys find each other and go on a magical adventure, ending with one dying to save the other. All is as it should be. Balance is restored to the..." He trailed off and started coughing again. "Ah fuck."

"Bucky you can't... you can't leave me, you jerk."

"It's better like this. You can go off and kick ass with the rest of the Avengers. Oh shit, yeah, I forgot to tell you. Turns out Captain America is you."

"What?"

"Crazy right? That means I had a crush on you before I had a crush on you."

"You had a crush on Captain America? That's low, man."

"Shut up, you asshole." Bucky started to laugh but ended up spluttering and struggling to get his breath back. Steve started stroking his hair to help him calm down and soon he was sighing and leaning into his touch. "Seriously though, can you imagine the party Stark'll throw to celebrate your resurrection. It'll be crazy. If anybody asks about me make sure you mention how good I looked when I was kicking Loki's ass." Steve sighed and shook his head as Bucky shifted and lay back so his head was in Steve's lap, looking up at him and smiling. His voice was coming out softer now, and Steve could see the colour starting to drain from his face. "You can take down the rest of Hydra. Avenge shit with the Avengers."

"I don't want to do that." Steve whispered, his voice cracking as he spoke. "I want you to show me everything I wanted to see while I was locked up. Just like you said you would. Bucky and Blondie." Bucky frowned at him.

"Steve, in a million years I wouldn't deserve that."

"Course you would, you idiot."

"No, I..."

"Listen, you asshole, I'm Captain fucking America and if I say you deserve something, you damn well do." Bucky smiled weakly up at him.

"Okay, Captain, tell me what you wanna see." Steve took a deep breath and ran his fingers through Bucky's hair.

"A forest, like a proper forest that you could get lost in. I wanna see a sunset on a beach, and kids playing in the snow."

"You'll have a long wait for some snow, Stevie."

"Then you better keep yourself alive 'til then." Bucky made a noise that sounded like he was trying to laugh and nuzzled at Steve's chest.

"Should'a let you kiss me last night." He mumbled, closing his eyes. Steve could hear his breathing getting shallower and barely managed to choke back a sob. He wrapped his arms around Bucky and pulled him into his chest.

"Promise me you won't die and you can kiss me all you want."

"Sounds like a plan." Bucky murmured into his chest, nuzzling against him and then going quiet.  
Steve felt Bucky go heavy in his arms and tried to pull him up, squeezing his shoulder and getting no reaction.

"Bucky?" He choked out, feeling Bucky's neck for a pulse and finding none. Bucky was gone.


	8. Surprisingly happy endings

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Considering the amount of people who want Bucky dead, this fucker just will not go down. Loki get's his butt kicked and everybody parties.   
> Plus, bonus cute little epilogue because of reasons.

"Bucky?" Steve whispered, holding Bucky tightly against him and pressing their foreheads together. "Come on, you jerk."  
It was horribly quiet in the tower now, the only noise was the faint sound of clattering and shouting from far below them. He could see Peg-E crawling up Bucky's back, perching itself on his shoulder and flashing it's light at him. Steve just shook his head and started stroking Bucky's hair, pushing away the strands that had fallen into his face.

"I can't be an Avenger, Bucky, I don't remember how. I... I need you." He choked. Unable to fight back the tears any longer, he buried his face in the crook of Bucky's neck and sobbed, clinging tightly on to Bucky's shirt.   
After a few moments his arms started to go numb from holding Bucky upright, so he lay him down in his lap, staying hunched over him. Tears were splashing on to Bucky's face now but Steve couldn't bring himself to care, he just held Bucky's head in his hands and squeezed his eyes shut, trying to stop crying.   
It wasn't until Peg-E started buzzing at him that he opened his eyes again, glancing over at the robot, which was frantically flashing it's light tiny green light at him.

"Not now, Peg." He murmured. The robot buzzed furiously at him and climbed up onto his face, prodding at his nose. "Jesus what is with you?" Peg-E pointed down at Bucky frantically and he looked, suddenly noticing the faint blue glow that was gradually moving down Bucky's throat, under his skin. He watched it trail down his throat and disappear under his shirt. For a few moments he thought he'd imagined it, when it reappeared, massively brighter on the wound in Bucky's stomach. It was too bright for Steve to look at and lasted for a few seconds, and when he looked back down there was no sign Bucky had ever been stabbed.

"Stevie?" His heart stopped for a moment when he heard the croaky voice and he looked over to see Bucky's eyelids fluttering.

"Bucky? It's me, I'm right here." He cupped Bucky's face in his hands and Bucky opened his eyes, grinning up at him.

"Just aren't gonna let me die, are you?"

"You can't get rid of me that easily."

"That was fucking wild. What even happened? You lost your hair mojo."

"I must have still had some left over juice. I kind of... cried all over your face, so I guess it was that." Bucky let out a weak laugh and groaned.

"Man, dying really drains your energy. Let's not do that again."

"Yeah that sounds like a good idea." Steve smiled, shaking his head and helping Bucky sit up. "How you feeling?"

"Like I'm ready to die all over again if I don't get a cheeseburger soon. Feels like there's a fucking hole in my stomach... oh wait."

"You're such an asshole."

* * *

All jokes aside, Bucky really was starving. It was only now that he realised he hadn't actually eaten anything all day. But right now it didn't matter, because Steve was here and he was safe, and Bucky no longer had a literal hole in his stomach, so for now everything was fine. Steve was smiling at him like a kid at Christmas, which was enough to make Bucky forget he'd been dead a few seconds ago.

"Hey, Stevie?" Steve raised his eyebrows at him and Bucky scratched at his neck awkwardly. "So, technically I held up my end of the deal, you know, by staying alive and whatnot. So-" He was cut off by Steve all but crashing their lips together and Bucky sighed into him, wrapping his arm around his neck and tangling his hand in his hair in a pointless effort to pull them closer together. Steve wrapped his arms around Bucky's waist and broke away slightly, staring at him breathlessly. Bucky grinned and pulled him back in again briefly, but a sudden thunderous roar from outside interrupted them.   
They both scrambled up and headed over to the window, looking out just in time to see the hulk grabbing Loki by the legs and smashing him repeatedly into the ground, while the rest of the group crowded around and aimed their respective weapons at him.

"Well they made that look... easy."

"You're just a shitty fighter, anything else is gonna look good by comparison."

"I save your life and this is the fucking thanks I get." Steve just laughed at him and squeezed his shoulder. "We should probably get back down there. Reunite you with your superpals." He said, nudging Steve towards the staircase and following him down.   
They reached the bottom of the tower in time to see the guards who had previously been attacking them carting a very dishevelled looking Loki away, with Thor following behind. Sam was the first to spot them and ran over, clapping Bucky on the back and grinning. That got the attention of the other Avengers, who all turned around and stared at Steve with open mouths, who just stood awkwardly glancing around at them all.   
It was Redhead who eventually walked over, wrapping her arms around him tightly until he looked like the life was about to leave his body.

"You don't remember us?" Steve shook his head and she frowned. "I'm Natasha." Natasha! That was her name. The rest of the group reintroduced themselves to him while Bucky and Sam leant up against the wall of the tower and watched.

"So what are you gonna do now?"

"I have absolutely no idea. Maybe move to Alaska under a new name." Bucky shrugged and Sam shook his head at him.

"Or you could stay with us." He stared at Sam in shock for a few minutes.

"You want the guy who tried to steal your magical mojo cube to join your band of superheroes?"

"The guy who stole our magical mojo cube, then led us back to it and brought back their dead friend as a bonus. Besides, we'll need all the information you've got on Hydra so we can put those bitches to rest."

"So you just want to use me is what you're saying?" Sam grinned at him.

"Yeah pretty much."

"Sounds good."

***

Bucky had been right about one thing. Tony really did throw the most over the top, intense party to celebrate the miraculous return of Captain America. It ended up lasting close to a week and almost resulted in the destruction of the entire city, turns out forcing Bruce Banner to take shots was a really bad idea. Steve was able to piece back a few bits of his memory after being shown around the Avengers tower and having extended conversations about things he'd done with each team member. Tony had fondly told him about all the arguments they'd had, although it seemed almost suspicious that Tony always came out on top in his stories, while Natasha had sat curled up on the couch with him and told him about how he'd been the one to make her feel like she was worthy of being a part of the group.   
Everyone else seemed surprisingly okay with Bucky joining up with them, although they made sure not to make an official announcement of it, despite Tony's desires for even more partying, given that Hydra still wanted him dead. And for the next few months they all had one mission. Take down Hydra for good.

* * *

Epilogue

Bucky felt sick with nerves. He'd spent what felt like an eternity just staring at the red wooden door in front of him, somehow unable to move his arms enough to knock on the door. He felt fingers interlock with his and glanced over to the side to see Steve smiling at him, squeezing his hand.

"You want me to knock for you?"

"No, I just... just give me a minute." Steve nodded at him and squeezed his hand again. Bucky took a shaky breath and lifted his metal arm, tapping on the door as lightly as he could and then trying to draw the hand back inside the sleeve of his jacket, making it as unnoticeable as possible.  
For five months now he'd been putting this off, insisting it wasn't safe while he was still one of Hydra's targets. But having practically wiped out their main New York base, he no longer had much of an excuse. The door swung open and he felt his chest tighten.   
Her hair was shorter than he remembered, and had a few more grey streaks. But it was the same face, and the same blue eyes, the ones that matched his perfectly, that went wide with shock when she saw him.

"James?" She breathed, taking a tiny step forward into the doorway.

"Hi, mom." He managed to say, letting go of Steve's hand and scratching the back of his neck nervously. He felt like he was going to pass out as she looked him up and down, struggling to tell if that was down to the fact that he was practically hyperventilating or that he hadn't eaten anything all morning. His mom was shaking her head at him and pushing her hair behind her ear like she did when she was nervous.

"You're dead." She said quietly. "I've gone mad." This time it was him shaking his head and he took a cautious step towards her.

"You wouldn't believe how many times people have said that to me these past few months." Bucky smiled, reaching out and taking her hand. She stood there for a minute examining his right hand, as if she were trying to make sure he was real, then suddenly her arms were wrapped around him, pulling him down to her level and squeezing him tighter than any woman as tiny as her should be capable of.

"I thought I'd lost you." She whispered, frantically kissing his cheek more times than he could count. He could feel the tears welling up in his eyes and buried his face in her shoulder, worried he was going to break her in half with how tight he was holding on to her.

"I'm so sorry. I didn't mean to leave you, mom, I wanted to come back but they... they could have killed you. I love you so much." Bucky wasn't entirely sure she could actually hear what he was saying, most of it just came out as muffled sobs into her shoulder. She seemed to understand enough though and started stroking his hair, shushing him and kissing his cheek again. "I didn't want them to hurt you."

"I'm okay, sweetheart. It's alright." She whispered. He hadn't even realised he was shaking until she started rubbing his back and he clung on to her tighter. "Who's this?" He looked up and saw her glancing over at Steve, who just smiled awkwardly at her.

"It's Steve, he got me out."

"Almost got you killed more like."

"Jesus, Stevie, don't say that in front of my mother, do you have a death wish or something?" Bucky grinned, laughing as his mom stretched out her hand and tugged Steve over, forcing him to join the hug. "I think you've just officially been accepted into the family."

"You look awfully familiar." His mom said, resting one of her hands on Steve's cheek and looking him up and down. Bucky just laughed at her.

"Say hello to the lost Avenger."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay so if I had planned ahead like an intelligent human being I maybe would have finished the other chapter before Bucky went into the tower so this chapter could actually have a lil excitement, I am a disgrace to humanity. So I'm sorry this chapter is so short and relatively uneventful and just all in all a big anti climax please forgive me I will try harder next time.


End file.
